King Vidor’s OUR DAILY BREAD (1934) Karen Morley – Tom Keene



WE LIVE! WE LOVE! WE FIGHT! WE HATE!

Our Daily Bread is a 1934 film directed by King Vidor and starring Karen Morley, Tom Keene, and John Qualen. Vidor tried to interest Irving Thalberg of MGM in the project, but Thalberg rejected the idea. Vidor then produced the film himself and released it through United Artists. The film is also known as Hell’s Crossroads (American reissue title)

The film depicts a couple, down on their luck during the Great Depression, who move to a farm to try to make a go of living off the land. They don’t have a clue at first, but soon find other people down on their luck to help them. Soon they have a collective of people, some from the big city, who work together on a farm. There is a severe drought, killing the crops. The people then dig a ditch by hand almost two miles long to divert water from a creek to irrigate the crops. The film is an entertaining, uplifting political allegory about the virtues of collective, non-corporate action, self-sufficiency, and the rewards of hard-work rather than the rewards of rapacious finance capitalism.

Cast
Karen Morley as Mary Sims
Tom Keene as John Sims
Barbara Pepper as Sally
Addison Richards as Louie Fuente
John Qualen as Chris Larsen
Lloyd Ingraham as Uncle Anthony
Sidney Bracey as Rent Collector
Henry Hall as Frank – the Carpenter
Nellie V. Nichols as Mrs. Cohen
Frank Minor as Plumber
Bud Ray as Stonemason

From Wikipedia

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9 Replies to “King Vidor’s OUR DAILY BREAD (1934) Karen Morley – Tom Keene”

  1. first saw this in mid 1980s when i was about 15.on thanksgiving eve in chicago on a local pbs station. favorite part is when they startdiging the ditch and everyone pitches in. this has nothing to do with communism, its just people throwing in togethr to get buyuntil things get better, call it what u will. movie was made 4 150,000 with vidors own money since the studio wouldnt back a film about the depession during the depression.

  2. By gees those mulboard ploughs progenerate quickly Funny (??) that the greatest whiners against socialism live in socialist nations…where government controls social climate and ensures the rich are well looked after and…oh..the others…don't worry about them they are here for the new order, work, pay taxes, go to war when a few obsessives they have elected decide it's time to become chimpanzees again…and use Yweh Allah God as the excuse for their undeveloped minds.

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