The read
Critics rate it 17 points higher than audiences do.
Synopsis
A young bureaucrat for the Tennessee Valley Authority goes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of a stubborn octogenarian from her home on an island in the river, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation.
Ratings
IMDb7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes92%
Critics rate it 17 points higher than audiences do.
107 audience votes
Key crew
- Elia KazanDirector
- Paul OsbornScreenplay
Cast
- Montgomery CliftChuck Glover
- Lee RemickCarol Garth Baldwin
- Jo Van FleetElla Garth
- Albert SalmiHank Bailey
- Jay C. FlippenHamilton Garth
- James WesterfieldCal Garth
- Bruce DernJack Roper
- Barbara LodenBetty Jackson
- Frank OvertonWalter Clark
- Malcolm AtterburySy Moore
- Robert Earl JonesSam Johnson (uncredited)
Stills
Themes
based on novel or bookriverfloodingtennesseedam1930sland dispute