Tobacco Road

Tobacco Road is a 1941 American comedy-drama film directed by John Ford and starring Charley Grapewin, Marjorie Rambeau, Gene Tierney and William Tracy. It was based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Erskine Caldwell and the 1933 Broadway play that Jack Kirkland adapted from the novel. The plot was rewritten for the film by Nunnally Johnson, who had worked with Ford on The Grapes of Wrath the previous year; the plot was altered to fit Production Code demands for a lighter tone while retaining plot elements. Plot synopsis In Georgia is a place called Tobacco Road, where the Lester family resides. The family patriarch Jeeter lives with his wife Ada, his son Dude, and his single daughter Ellie May, but the Lesters are doomed to lose their land because the bank decides to take it over for more suitable farming. However, the bank is convinced by a friend in Capt. Tim Harmon (whose father had kept after the Lesters to grow crops) to potentially lease the land to Jeeter for $100 a year, provided he can get a loan. He plans to get a loan from the widow Sister Bessie Rice, who just received $800 from the life insurance company. However, Bessie decides to marry Dude and uses the money to buy a new car for Dude. Jeeter plans to find a way to get the money and also marry off Ellie May. His attempt at trying to sell Dude's car fails miserably, and it seems as though they will be forced to live in the poorhouse. It is Harmon who decides to give the Lesters a chance, lending them a stake for six months to try and grow a suitable crop, complete with $10 to get started. Cast Charley Grapewin as Lester Marjorie Rambeau as Sister Bessie Gene Tierney as Ellie May William Tracy as Dude Lester Elizabeth Patterson as Ada Lester Dana Andrews as Captain Tim Slim Summerville as Peabody Ward Bond as Lov Bensey Grant Mitchell as George Payne Zeffie Tilbury as Grandma Russell Simpson as Chief of Police Spencer Charters as County Clerk Irving Bacon as Teller Harry Tyler as Auto Dealer Charles Halton as Mayor George Chandler as Clerk Production Studios attempted to acquire the screen rights to the novel from 1933. RKO Pictures and Warner Bros. considered buying the rights, the first intending to assign Charles Laughton in the lead role, but were discouraged from doing so. In March 1940, Columbia Pictures showed interest, but was informed that Tobacco Road was on the list of banned titles.