Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

God's Little Acre (1958)

Director: Anthony Mann

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

God's Little Acre completely bypasses its exotic origins in Erskine Caldwell's sensational novel. Instead, Mann and scriptwriter Philip Yordan transform their subject matter to create out of it a study of two 'over-reachers' struggling for control over the destiny of their family. Accordingly, the film is best seen in the light of the treatment of the family in Man of the West and The Fall of the Roman Empire. Ryan, the family's monomaniacal patriarch, has successfully harnessed the energy of his constantly squabbling flock for 15 years into an impossible search for his grandfather's mythic hidden gold. Similarly, Ray's son-in-law is driven by the dream of reinvigorating the homestead (and the valley) by turning the mill-power back on. While the film's resolution - peace and harmony - is impossible to take, the previous 100-odd minutes offer the most concise account of Mann's conception of the power and tensions that lie at the root of family life.

Author: PH 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Anthony Mann

Producer: Sidney Harmon

Cast: Robert Ryan, Tina Louise, Aldo Ray, Buddy Hackett, Jack Lord, Fay Spain, Michael Landon full cast

Duration: 110 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.