The Cabin in the Cotton

Directed by Michael Curtiz, The Cabin in the Cotton follows a sharecropper’s son (Richard Barthelmess’ Marvin Blake) as he eventually finds himself caught between ambition and familial loyalty. Filmmaker Curtiz, working from Paul Green’s screenplay, delivers a relentlessly erratic drama that fares especially poorly within its sluggish, uninvolving opening stretch, with the picture’s arms-length atmosphere perpetuated and heightened by Barthelmess’ almost astonishingly bland turn as the one-note central character. It’s clear, then, that The Cabin in the Cotton improves slightly as it progresses into its comparatively engrossing midsection and second half, as the picture benefits from Bette Davis’ magnetic, captivating supporting turn and a smattering of admittedly compelling sequences (eg an impressively brutal interlude detailing an impromptu hanging) – which, when coupled with an agreeably melodramatic third act, confirms the film’s place as a hit-and-miss endeavor that is, in the final analysis, notable only (and mostly) for Davis’ memorable performance.

**1/2 out of ****