Subscriber Frank Gutierrez has two more recommendations for Movies Worth Rediscovering, and I heartily concur with his selections. The first is an oldie from 1935; I’ll let Frank briefly describe the plot and his reasons for recommending both titles.
Pat O’Brien plays an American working for the Atlantis Oil Company in pre-W W II China, during the period of warlord rule. The oil company is portrayed as an impersonal, largely uncaring force oblivious to the needs and personal fulfillment of its employees. Despite this, O’Brien’s character disregards all but the company’s interests. O’Brien loses his child when he is not present when his wife gives birth in a remote area; instead, he is fighting a fire in the oil fields. His wife (Josephine Hutchinson) forgives, but tension later arises over decisions regarding fellow employees. There is a disclaimer at the film’s beginning stating that this is not an indictment of the petroleum industry, and that the oil industry is just being used to demonstrate practices of big business in general.
I saw this film for the first time several months ago and I really enjoyed it, but felt O’Brien’s character was rather naive about the practices of his company. Nevertheless, this is a very enjoyable film.
Like Frank, I just recently found this film; it took me a few months to find it after receiving his recommendation of it. As directed by Mervyn LeRoy, it is quite an indictment of business, yet, as Frank indicates, it refrains from totally blaming its central oil company. It is more cinematic than I expected, with a handful of notable camera shots and periodic references to the novel upon which it is based (by Alice Tisdale Hobart) used to indicate the passage of time. It grabbed my attention immediately due to its central storyline of American oil companies trying to sell oil to China; at this point in American history, it seems like we should have kept that oil for our own use!
Yes, the relationship between O’Brien and Hutchinson is rather contrived, yet it improves as it develops. Likewise, it is obvious that most of the outdoor scenes are not taking place in China (it was filmed in California except for some exterior establishing shots), yet that doesn’t detract much from enjoying the story. It is a streamlined story focusing on an idealist’s gradual disillusionment with his lifelong work, yet it doesn’t attempt to diminish that work. Few films actually deal with a person’s work as diligently and intelligently as this one does, which makes the film all the more rewarding.
Feminists may be bothered by Hutchinson’s attitude about her own importance (which is subject to that of her husband), yet the film persuasively argues that women are tied more to people than to work. My, how times have changed. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰. (7:3).