Dragon Seed (1944) User Reviews

Tasteful version of Pearl Buck story...offbeat casting is intriguing...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 6 April 2007]

It may be disconcerting to see blue-eyed Caucasian actors playing Orientals, but once this initial distraction is over, the story of DRAGON SEED takes over and it's an engrossing one. Film's chief flaw is the fact that Pearl Buck's story is overlong--and so is the film.

Chinese villagers have to flee the enemy, Japanese soldiers, during the 1930s, and WALTER HUSTON and ALINE MacMAHON are the sturdy head of a family that includes daughter KATHARINE HEPBURN, as Jade. None of the three principals are particularly convincing in their Oriental make-up, but it's still fascinating to watch them perform.

HURD HATFIELD, TURHAN BEY, AKIM TAMIROFF, JACQUELINE DeWIT and HENRY TRAVERS are further examples of offbeat casting, but the grim story of survival of the fittest under cruel exploitation by the enemy is well crafted and always interesting to follow.

The film is photographed in meticulous B&W, crisply produced in the handsome MGM manner--with main attention going to Huston and MacMahon who do nicely in the leading roles. Hepburn, thankfully, is less mannered and less on display than usual. One of the most interesting scenes involves her decision to poison her brother-in-law during a banquet at his "mansion".

Summing up: Admirers of other Pearl Buck works (like THE GOOD EARTH) should find this unusual drama well worth watching. MGM should be commended for producing a very tasteful version of the novel. Story ends on a fever pitch with a graphic simulation of "the scorched earth policy" as practiced by the Chinese villagers.

Has spare, beautiful moments, with the horrors of war vividly portrayed

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 13 June 2004]

When hard-working China is attacked by the power-hungry Japanese, a pre-feminist Chinese woman struggles with her family for survival; eventually she and her husband become fighters in the Resistance and help to influence their family and fellow villagers to join them. Hollywood product, with intentions that seem sincere, adapted from a Pearl Buck novel and starring...Katharine Hepburn? Actually, Kate is not flossy or "regal" here; she's nobody's fool and probably knows she's miscast, but her Asian make-up is commendable and she tries (not in vain) to find a character. In support, Walter Huston and Aline MacMahon, as Hepburn's Old World in-laws, are excellent. The movie has beautiful cinematography and absorbing passages, but its length is self-defeating and there are some howlers in the script and in much of the casting. Not a hit at the box-office, but by this time people were so used to Hepburn's hit-or-miss choices that it didn't hurt her. *** from ****

Intense Propaganda Epic

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 1 August 2016]

Let us get the obvious criticisms out of the way first: DRAGON SEED could be held up as a classic example of mimicry and/or orientalism, with the supposedly Chinese characters played by a variety of actors from different backgrounds. Led by Walter Huston as the familial patriarch, the cast also includes the Russian-born and Stanislavski- trained Akim Tamiroff; Turhan Bey, the Viennese born son of a Turkish father and Czechoslovakian mother; New England patrician Katharine Hepburn; the English-born Henry Travers, and the Irish American J. Carrol Naish as a Japanese kitchen overseer.

On the other hand the film must be approached in context as a propagandist flag-waver designed to highlight the Japanese menace while emphasizing the importance of the global fight for freedom. In these terms Jack Conway and Harold S. Bucquet's epic works extremely well: the Japanese are portrayed as sadistic brutes who will stoop at nothing to achieve their aims - shooting dogs, raping and killing innocent women while relishing the thought of getting Hepburn's Jade Tan into bed. With the aid of Chinese traitor Wu Lien (Tamiroff), they set themselves up in a grand mansion and enjoy elaborate meals prepared by slave cooks, while capturing locals as slave labor.

Pitted against them are the local Chinese, part of a farming community dedicated to centuries-old rituals. Nothing, it seems, can disturb the peace of their lives. When the Japanese invasion occurs, they are pitifully under-prepared to cope: Ling Tan's (Huston's) eldest son Lao Er Tan (Bey) and wife Jade (Hepburn) leave to help build a city in the hills dedicated to making weapons; while another son Lao San Tan (Hurd Hatfield) goes off to join the Chinese army. Ling Tan and his wife (Aline MacMahon) are left behind to forage for themselves, often living on scraps.

While the film emphasizes the importance of rituals as the foundation of a stable society, it also looks forward to the future. Jade wants to teach her newly-born son to read, for it is only through reading that enlightenment can occur. Lao objects at first - he favors more traditional pastimes such as love-making - but as the action unfolds he understands his wife's concern. DRAGON SEED also preaches a doctrine of sexual equality: Jade spends most of the action working alongside her husband in manual labor dressed in overalls rather than the traditional attire of a rural peasant.

In the end even Ling Tan comes to realize the importance of fighting for his country's future, despite his love of peace. The film ends with a climactic sequence reminiscent of MGM's GONE WITH THE WIND, as the Chinese community decamps from its long-established village to make a new home in the hills.

Based on a best-selling novel by Pearl S. Buck, Marguerite Roberts's screenplay contains a few clunky lines, where the propagandist elements assume more significance than plot coherence; but the film offers the role of a lifetime to Turhan Bey, hitherto associated mostly with B-pictures and horror films for Universal. He takes the opportunity with both hands, proving as competent as Hepburn in delivering lines with élan, as well as convincing us of the character's sincerity of purpose.

DRAGON SEED is certainly long - perhaps too long at 144 minutes, but it certainly fulfills its purpose, especially for those forced to fight the Japanese at first-hand during the mid-Forties.

A Great Surprise

[homeone777 · 12 February 2004]

While surfing through the movie listings trying to pass some time I came across Dragon Seed. I saw the date (1944) and the summary and thought that this would be another war-time morale type movie. That type of film has always been good to watch so I tuned in. I was very surprised. The film had a wonderful story with very good acting even though a bit stoic. I discounted the Chinese makeup and the non-Asian actors so they were not a factor in my enjoyment. The movie went far beyond the standard war era gung-ho film. The feelings of the times and the people came through wonderfully. I would like to see it again to catch subtle things that I know I missed the first time. It was a wonderful way to spend my time.

Great Pearl S. Buck Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 17 February 2008]

Enjoyed the great acting by the entire cast and especially Katharine Hepburn, who plays the role as Jade Tan who lives with her family on a farm and everything is very peaceful and happy for years. However, when the Japanese evade China these peaceful times turn into a complete disaster for the farming community. Walter Houston, (Ling Tan) plays the role as father and his wife Ling Tan, (Aline MacMahan) both give great supporting roles. Akim Tamiroff, (Lu Lien) becomes friends with the Japanese and is really a traitor to his Chinese family. The Japanese treated the people very poorly and their was rape and constant killing of innocent people. This story reminded me of a book entitled, "The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang" which talks about the horrors that Japanese soldiers performed against innocent Chinese people which is told in this picture.

Anna May Wong anyone?

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 18 June 2007]

Dragonseed is a whole lot like that other far better film of a Pearl Buck novel, The Good Earth. Since both came from the MGM studio the two films have the same look to them and in many ways this is another generation of the family depicted in The Good Earth facing new problems of the Japanese invasion.

Of course if it were made today, you'd be casting all oriental players in the roles. But in The Good Earth, both Paul Muni and Luise Rainer were well suited to ethnic roles. A lot of the members of the cast of Dragonseed were not.

Walter Huston at least to his credit never tried an accent in playing a Russian in North Star or a Norwegian in Edge of Darkness also films about resistance to Axis invaders. He's once again the voice of reason, driven to do unreasonable things against his nature by war. Still he doesn't come across as Chinese. Neither does Henry Travers as his scholarly cousin.

But most of all Katherine Hepburn just doesn't make it as an oriental. When Luise Rainer played Olan, the part was written with minimal dialog and she won that Best Actress Oscar for her facial expressions which said more than pages of words. Hepburn unfortunately sounds like the peasant from Bryn Mawr.

Seeing real oriental players in smaller parts like Philip Ahn and Benson Fong only draw attention to how ridiculous some of the occidentals look.

It's not a bad story, maybe it would have been better if they cast Anna May Wong though.

"Do not be troubled, my son. It is often good to beat a woman."

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 11 April 2014]

Pale imitator of The Good Earth that lacks that film's style or heart. The backdrop is 1930s China and the Japanese invasion. The cast is made up of white people playing the Chinese parts and, actually, that's not a deal-breaker for me. I recognize and accept the time in which this was made so the yellowface is not something that outrages me. Although admittedly the constant close-ups of Katharine Hepburn making silly faces while made up the way she was made it a lot harder to tolerate. Anyway, the problem I have with this movie is not the white actors playing Chinese characters. The problem I have is that they play these characters like they aren't real human beings.

The script does the cast no favors but the actors have to own their performances here, no matter how respected they are (Hepburn and Walter Huston, this means you). The portrayal of Chinese people here is condescending and, frankly, insulting. They don't seem like human beings with real thoughts and emotions. They are played like aliens who imitate human emotions rather than actually experiencing them. They spew forth fortune cookie dialogue and, despite the movie being in English, talk as though English was a completely foreign language to them. It's really very stupid and impossible to take seriously. I have a hard time trying to decide if this is Hepburn's worst role or if that honor goes to "Spitfire," where she played a hillbilly named Trigger.

It's interesting that this was made by politically and philosophically enlightened types, considering their treatment of "furners" here is so offensive. I'm sure those involved with the making of this mess meant well but good intentions is only an excuse that will get you so far. Their hearts may have been in the right place but their heads were up their...well, you know.

Duck Soup

[GeoPierpont · 6/10 · 16 January 2016]

Listening to the unique dialog, methods of address, and expressions of tenderness and love made me wonder if something was lost in translation. I imagined a Chinese translation of English 'Oh Honey!' might be 'I bow to my glorious powerful master'??? Seems when life is just a bare existence and immensely challenging women are treated with great respect to carry the load as well. Who knows but reading books, especially the Bible, was an executionable offense back in the day. I certainly remember my husband complaining he wished I never went to college so he would maintain his superiority. Ha! Like that routine would have lasted very long.

So now we are worried about the potential invasion of China here while our debt is so precipitous and fear incites such a divisive destabilization of our country. You wonder how people survived such cruel inhumane treatment but this is no different than our treatment of many peoples we have occupied and conquered. I would appreciate those foreign films that address the reality of the Western Devil. Let's face it, men everywhere throughout the ages are mostly responsible for this mess and if women were to take over we could likely take advantage of the situation as well. Perhaps that is why there is such a concerted effort to maintain inequality because payback is going to be a b itch!

I was able to move beyond seeing Clarence the Angel in his Fu Man Chu glasses and whiskers as well as Kate Hepburn with her Yankee accent. It is not difficult to take away sympathy for all oppressed people and be thankful for the many friends, family, security and those ever vital material possessions.

High recommend for the scene of a great Chinese smörgåsbord of Duck Soup and the many wild and crazy ingredients that make this film memorable.

Katherine Helpburn is cast in the role of a Chinese woman--need I say more!?!?

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 7 April 2008]

I just finished skimming through the reviews for this film and noticed that the first one actually had the gall to give this movie a score of 10! A 10 would place this film in the illustrious company as other great films such as GONE WITH THE WIND, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES or GIGI--surely it's an insult to these other great films to compare DRAGON SEED to them in any favorable way! Other than the fact they are movies, I just don't see any other rational comparison.

So why did I give the film the ridiculously low score of 2? Well, it features the very worst job of casting of any film--with the possible exception of THE CONQUERER (with John Wayne as 'Gengis Khan' and Susan Hayward as a Mongol princess). In DRAGON SEED, Katherine Hepburn (red haired and possessing a very prim and proper New England accent) and Walter Huston are among the cast playing Chinese people!! Now it was unfortunately common in the 30s and 40s to have such parts played by Westerners but at least some had the ability to almost carry it off well. Heck, Warner Oland and Sidney Toler were MUCH closer to being believable as Chinese (detective 'Charlie Chan') than either Huston or Hepburn!!! As for the rest of the story, it's a relatively dull and uninspiring Pearl Buck story with none of the impact or style as THE GOOD EARTH--a fine film from a decade earlier (despite the all Anglo cast once again). Instead, it's an anti-Japanese film made to promote the war effort in the Pacific.

By the way, as a bit of trivia, the red haired Agnes Morehead deserves special recognition, as she not only played a Chinese lady in this film but Genghis Khan's mother in THE CONQUERER--proving that horrendously stupid casting can be infectious.

Also, for more fun casting decisions featuring the most ridiculous Westerners playing Asians, try watching Edward G. Robinson in THE HATCHET MAN--an amazingly good film despite having 'Little Caesar' pretending to be Chinese. Other odd ones (humorous because they were so very, very offensive) were Marlon Brando in TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON and Mickey Rooney in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. I swear to you, all these movie references are true--Hollywood was THIS out of touch and the public actually went to these films in droves!

note to "Old Soldier" other reviewer

[diana-2 · 6/10 · 29 July 2009]

Just one correction. The Japanese did not surrender unconditionally. We accepted a conditional surrender because Russia declared war on Japan in August 1945 and would have taken it over if we had not accepted their surrender and occupied Japan.

A little-known fact, I'm afraid. If it had been an unconditional surrender, Emperor Hirohito would have been tried as a war criminal.

Most people think that Japan surrendered unconditionally, due to atomic bombs, but they did not.

As far as the movie is concerned, I've never found this movie to be very interesting. It makes too much of the Chinese resistance without showing much of what they did. The movie is too "talky". Katharine Hepburn is totally miscast and looks foolish.

horrible chinesey dialog tough to hear

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 29 March 2015]

Ling Tang (Walter Huston) and his extended family live on a peaceful prosperous farm in the south. The Japanese are rampaging in the north and the villagers are unconcerned. The two oldest sons Lao Ta Tan and Lao Er Tan are married. Er's wife Jade (Katharine Hepburn) is willful and not the traditional submissive kind. The youngest son Lao San Tan is unmarried and a free spirit. The only daughter is married to the wealthy Wu Lien who sells Japanese goods in the city. His store is trashed by patriots who burn his goods. The Japanese bomb the city destroying it. Er leaves the farm with his pregnant wife Jade. Ta's wife is raped and killed. Ta and San go off to fight while Wu Lien collaborates.

I'm willing to accept non-Asians playing these roles. It's old Hollywood and Asian actors didn't have a chance back in the day. They did put in some Asian actors in minor speaking roles and that's probably the best that could be hoped for. The most annoying thing about this movie is the odd sounding chinesey English being spoken by everybody. It's a struggle to follow and a grind to listen to. It's not just the flat accent but it's more about the way the dialog is written. The acting is also pretty bad as if the actors were inspired by a Chinese opera. It makes the movie feel unnatural. There is a compelling melodrama of struggle but it's buried by the bad dialog.

Place The Movie In Its Context

[ResoluteGrunt · 9/10 · 8 April 2007]

While trying hard not to be too condescending to Americans of today who somehow think the world was always as they now see it around them -- this movie was made in 1943, in the darkest midst of the horrific World War II, when America was engaged in a global struggle of epic proportions against the mighty Japanese Empire (and other very powerful allied nations all over the world), and when Manchuria, China and most of Asia were occupied by the very brutal Japanese invaders. The film was released to the public more than a year before that terrible war began to reach a conclusion.

In 1944 America's victory in the Second World War was by no means assured, yet the US was trying to do whatever it could to assist the Chinese against the Japanese while the main US military forces fought the Japanese directly island by island westward across the Pacific. Of particular note is the fact that Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937, and that both suffered under merciless Japanese occupation for years before America formally entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Japanese forces committed brutal atrocities against Chinese civilians and prisoners of war in the Rape of Nanking, slaughtering as many as 300,000 civilians within a month. Before it was over more than 10 million Chinese were mobilized by the Japanese army and enslaved for slave labor and at least 2,700,000 Chinese died. Japanese occupation atrocities against the Chinese included mass killings by airborne gasses on hundreds of separate occasions.

The film, which was being made while all this was going on, but before most of the details were fully known, therefore reflects the American (and western) thinking at the time, as depicted through the keen expert eyes of the great China observer, American Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Pearl S. Buck. It also reflects what was available to Hollywood film-makers at that desperate moment. Given the time and the circumstances, the movie does quite an adequate job - all of which undoubtedly explains the involvement in it of the great American actress Katharine Hepburn. The film helped Americans at that time to understand China's desperate situation, why the Chinese were worth assisting, and why the US military, and most Americans at home, were trying hard to do just that at truly great cost. Hepburn's name on theater marquees also ensured that many more people would see the film than otherwise.

Americans in 1944 didn't care one bit that the Chinese characters were being played by Americans; audiences could easily imagine, empathize and understand. Very many of them had already read Buck's novel with the same title, published in 1942, and knew that the famous author, who had written many novels about China, had been a very vocal proponent of American understanding and support of China in her struggle with the Japanese. Pearl S. Buck had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938, mainly on the basis of her great China trilogy "The House Of Earth", including its first part, "The Good Earth".

The Japanese surrendered unconditionally to the US on August 14, 1945, and Japanese troops in China formally surrendered to the Chinese a month later, but by then most of Manchuria and China had been destroyed. The people portrayed in the film had seen what the Japanese had done in Manchuria over the previous six years, and then experienced Japanese brutality directly for another eight years. The 14 years of China's monumental struggles in World War II were a pivotal point in China's history. Before the Japanese invasion, China had suffered nearly a century of humiliation at the hands of various imperialist powers and was relegated to a semi-colonial status. However, the war greatly enhanced China's resolve, strength and international status. After the war, the Republic of China became a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member in the Security Council. China also reclaimed Manchuria.

The movie therefore helps Americans today to understand a most critical moment in China's, and their own, common history, and why it all was, and remains, important.

Old American Soldier

Good movie but casting a downer

[holly-103 · 7/10 · 5 February 2005]

I also ran across this movie while early morning channel surfing. Did not see the entire movie, unfortunately. The plot is well developed and I found myself caring about what happened to these characters but the casting of white Americans as Asian folks was almost too distracting. My favorite characters were Ling Tan and his wife; the interaction with their grandchild really tugged at the heartstrings! Kate Hepburn as a Chinese peasant, Jade, was the worst; Agnes Moorehead was a hoot! Now I really want to find this movie again, since I missed the very beginning then had to leave for work and missed the end. I also would like to read the book now as the only Pearl S. Buck I have read is The Good Earth.

Read the Book.

[Prof_Lostiswitz · 5/10 · 4 May 2003]

This is a really compelling story...thanks to novelist Pearl Buck, from whom you never expect anything less than the best. The moviemakers have done their best to make a hash of it, with rotten acting from almost everyone. It's especially jarring to see Katharine Hepburn in "yellowface"; wot, they couldn't find any good oriental actresses?

In fact, almost the whole cast is white, and the production suffers for it. Even the beauty of the Chinese landscape is diminished in black-and-white. The best sections are those with voice-over narrative, notably the one where the village is threatened by two storms- a natural one, and foreign invasion.

Pearl Buck is a neglected author these days, but she tackled some themes - democracy, patriarchy, justice - which are still highly relevant. Since the Chinese are great cinematographers, it would be interesting to see what they could do with her stuff.

Viewers will enjoy this movie, but the credit goes only to the novelist, not the actors or producers. You'd much better make use of your time by reading the book, in fact all of Buck's books.

Chinese perspective on this movie.

[jamez1965 · 28 August 2002]

I was lucky to have watched this movie with my girlfriend's father, who is Chinese. Although he didn't understand a word, he LOVED IT! He was part of the original communist movement and could totally relate to the scenes of farmers taking up arms and meeting in the mountains to plan the fight against the Japanese invaders.

He wondered why, despite the fact that the budding commies in the movie were portrayed as very heroic, he'd never heard of this movie in China. Here is an American movie that glorifies his struggles - that was produced at a time when he was told to completely shun everything Western. Made him think a little, I bet.

Oh, and by the way, don't listen to what anybody else says about the white actors playing Chinese in this movie... it's almost painful to watch!

Not "classic" status

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 30 September 2018]

Hollywood couldn't have put together a less Chinese cast if it tried: Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Henry Travers, Robert Bice, and Akim Tamiroff headed up the cast in another adaptation of a Pearl S. Buck novel. Agnes Moorehead tried to put on a Chinese accent, and Turhan Bey relied on his dark looks to convince audiences he's Chinese, even though he was really Austrian. Besides that, everyone else acted like they were in some movie set in Vermont-with the exception of Akim, who spoke in his normal Russian accent.

Since Katharine Hepburn is the lead, it's to be expected that this film will have a feminist message, with the underlying theme of obeying one's husband. Walter Huston is the patriarch, and he and Aline worry about the younger generation. Kate longs to read, which is taboo at that time, and she speaks her mind in public, often embarrassing her husband. But, since it's Kate, she's going to continue to be herself, with the understanding that when it comes right down to it, she'll stand by her man anyway-remember Spencer Tracy, folks.

The first hour really drags, and you might even turn it off as I did. I turned it back on the next day, to support the cast, and then the plot picked up a bit. Japanese soldiers invade the village, and Kate and Turhan try to lead an underground resistance. Still, even though the audience is forced to watch as terrible things happen to the family, it doesn't elevate the film to "classic" status. Dragon Seed is not another The Good Earth. Yes, a Chinese family deals with soldiers, farming, and family, but it's not nearly as dramatic as Buck's earlier story. If you're looking for that, keep looking or just rent The Good Earth a second time and endure Louise Rainer's singular expression. Whatever you do, even if you're ridiculously excited to hear Lionel Barrymore narrate a film, don't feel you have to rent this one. What is Lionel doing narrating a Chinese movie anyway?

moronic

[thomasgulch · 1/10 · 28 January 2004]

If they had one this same movie with caucasian actors in black face, people would be marching around hollywood with picket signs. I guess, however, it was appropriate to use white actors because no asian actors could be found. I guess this is today's equivalent of pretending that all egyptians were actually Negroes. It seems as if Hollywood was/is afraid of offending only certain groups. I wonder why? It was so distracting to see the caucasian's makeup and wonder how anyone in their right mind hoped to pass this off as authentic, made one miss most of the plot.

Where is Luise Rainer when you need her?

[Patrick-96 · 4/10 · 28 February 2001]

Katharine Hepburn proves that she is no Luise Rainer, who in 1937 won an Academy Award for her performance in THE GOOD EARTH. Her attempt at a Chinese accent is downright laughable. Just proves that even a great actress like Hepburn can occasionally fail. And fail she did!

Beautiful story of the Chinese under Japanese occupation

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 11 October 2010]

Pearl Buck's novel "Dragon Seed" was made into a film in 1944. Back then, for reasons known only to themselves, the studios did not cast Chinese to play Chinese in major roles. Looking at the film now, I guess it's important to remember that to the 1944 audiences, there was nothing unusual about this.

Taking the non-Chinese casting out of the equation for just a moment, "The Dragon Seed" is a powerful story of what happened to the Chinese during the barbaric occupation of the Japanese. The story focuses on the family of Ling Tan (Walter Huston), his wife (Aline McMahon), and his sons, Lao Er Tan (Turhan Bey) and wife Jade (Katharine Hepburn), Lao San Tan (Hurd Hatfield) and Lao Ta Tan (Robert Bice). Jade is a modern thinker, and part of the story deals with the struggles between the new times and old traditions and the role of women. The other part of the story is how various people deal with the occupation. There is submissiveness, resistance, and collaboration.

I'm most moved by a review on this site by a man who has a Chinese father-in-law. His father-in-law loved the film. No one in China knew that America was on their side; they were taught to hate the western world.

So if a Chinese man can overlook the casting, I suppose I can too, but I can't. The acting is fantastic, but one wonders what was wrong with Anna May Wong, Keye Luke, Sen Yung, and why only the extras and children seemed to be at the very least Asian. For me the most egregious casting was that of Katharine Hepburn. Her acting came alive in the second part of the film. She once said that Spencer Tracy made her seem very feminine. He's not in this movie. In the beginning, in the love scenes with her husband, it doesn't come off. She's better when the character shows strength. Her finishing school accent and wig don't cut it either. Very difficult to watch. Also, she seems oddly matched with Turhan Bey.

This film is still well worth seeing. It's very dramatic and emotional, with a very big and poignant ending.

Wartime film with several missions

[Bob Pr. · 5/10 · 17 February 2011]

Stars Katherine Hepburn, Walter Huston, adapted from Pearl Buck's novel of the same name.

Ling Tan (Huston) is a Chinese farmer with a daughter and 3 younger adult sons. His daughter is married to a merchant in town who sells many Japanese goods, his sons work on the family farm. One of his sons, Er Tan, is married to Jade (Hepburn) who differs from the traditional Chinese wife in that she can read and write and seems in the vanguard of a women's lib movement.

The village they live in is peaceful until the Japanese invasion, previously 100s of miles away, moves into their area. The son-in-law merchant becomes a Japanese collaborator. Ling Tan's sons leave the farm (with Jade) to fight with the resistance and eventually return to fight the Japanese with guerrilla warfare.

This film, released in August 1944 (in WW-II), was not only for domestic consumption but also for distribution to American troops in all theaters of the war. Its aims are quite obvious: to make a successful domestic movie that would also fan the motivation of both the armed forces and civilians at home to defeat the Japanese. Some rapes of Chinese women (sounds are obvious off camera) and blatant murders of other innocent Chinese are present. The movie ends, not with the defeat of the Japanese, but with a concerted, cooperative effort by the villagers (under the instigation of Ling Tan's sons & Jade) to deprive their occupiers by the self-sacrificial burning of their food supplies and farms to hasten the Japanese defeat.

My rating of 5 of 10 may be too generous for today's tastes in movie drama.

But the film IS of interest to see how Hollywood's desire to help the Allied war effort influenced movie making. And Jade's role as a harbinger of female equality with men rather than being the traditionally subservient Chinese wife possibly resonated with American women working in defense plants. Most of the acting (IMO) lacks subtlety and nuance. The speech patterns used were English versions of imitation Chinese as were the customs (meetings, greetings, farewells, etc.). No Asian actors in lead roles as there was a deliberate reliance on popular "name" stars for box office appeal (& receipts). At 147 minutes I thought it was way far too long.

A real surprise

[vancechen · 28 January 2004]

Tonight, when I came back from lab and opened the TV, the Chinese national anthem came out from the TV box. It really surprised till I realized the song is from the movie Dragon Seed. Yes. A new China was born essentially from anti-jap war at that time. The current National anthem was exactly the song hummed by those characters in the movie.

The movie is really a good reminiscence of the American understanding about China right after the WWII. It is sad that the two nations have misunderstood each other for such a long time. Even now, the relationship between US and China is rough. I hope the American people can see a more real image of modern China. American media is so against China. That's not good.

Back to the movie, the movie is not perfect and it's much better than more recent American media's depiction of China. What can I expect? Anyway, SONY controls the movie industry in large.

I Found It- The Worst Movie Ever Made!!!

[bradb-864-281158 · 1/10 · 14 August 2018]

But....in a good way. This movie may for at the time be about the politics but today, the dialog and scripting is hilarious. Everyone is poorly cast and I've rolled laughing through this whole movie. Katherine Hepburn is incredibly horrible...hilariously horrible. They all are! It is so bad I would watch it again, but not for awhile because the long run time gets really tedious. Watch this movie!

Back in the days when only white people could act

[PsyDtoBe · 1/10 · 26 February 2006]

OK, just to start, let me say this: Katharine Hepburn as a submissive Chinese wife!

That alone justifies a rating of 1. This movie was made under the aegis of patriotism, showing our allies, the Chinese, as humble, brave and long-suffering and our enemies, the Japanese, as brutal and cruel. Of course, all the Japanese were played by Chinese and all the Chinese were played by white people. The somehow stereotypically Jewish Chinese merchant who put greed before his family and country manages to be racist to Chinese people AND anti-Semitic all at the same time!

I watched this movie for a class on 1940's American film in college. It's a truly good thing that this is not the height of what the decade had to offer.

I don't recommend this movie for anything other than a historic/sociological look at the mindset of the decade. For that it's useful, for everything else, it's garbage.

Old Hollywood

[mclean36 · 1/10 · 12 May 2006]

I found this movie to be racist and deplorable with it's use of non-Asian actors in lead roles, i.e. Katharine Hepburn as Jade. The movie did little to evoke a consciousness, as it should because of the poignant historical references. The acting is devoid of emotion in some scenes, and doubly overacted in others.

Despite all the surface problems, I did enjoy the performance of Akim Tamiroff as Wu Lein. Also the smatterings of Asian actors was a relief, and all but saved the movie.

And although the historical references are fully explored I did enjoy the romance and blossoming love between Jade and Wu Lein.

An Underrated World War II Drama

[kryck · 9/10 · 9 April 2001]

Many critics consider the 1944 drama,"Dragon Seed" to be an overlong epic that has unconvincing characterizations of Chinese people. It's true that some of American actors in this film don't look Chinese,but a majority of them do. With that said,"Dragon Seed" is one of the best films about World War II. I have ever seen. It contains excellent performances by the entire cast and deals with a part of the war that is rarely mentioned, the Japanese occupation in China in the late 1930's. The film is based on a popular novel by Pearl S. Buck and tells the story of Ling Tan(Walter Huston)and his family of farmers.Tan and his wife(Aline MacMahon)try to keep the ancient Chinese customs alive in their household, but they soon realize that this is impossible. Jade,(Katharine Hepburn)Tan's daughter-in-law and many people in China are finding out ways to protect themselves against Japanese invaders. When the Japanese come, their lives are destroyed forever. The farmers are forced to share most of their land with the invaders,homes and personal belongings are destroyed,the invaders storm into homes and kill people, and people flee to get away from all the chaos. As a viewer,you see a family courageously surviving turmoil the best way that they can. The film is entertaining all the way through. Katharine Hepburn gives one of the greatest and most underrated performances of her career.She should have gotten,at least,an Oscar nomination for it. Walter Huston and Aline MacMahon are equally brilliant as the wise heads of the family. Agnes Moorehead gives a fascinating performance as a nasty in-law,who will do anything to get what she wants. Of course, this film has the usual high MGM production values. I give it a 9 out of 10.