Diese Erde ist mein (1959)

Diese Erde ist mein: Directed by Henry King. With Rock Hudson, Jean Simmons, Dorothy McGuire, Claude Rains. During Prohibition, Englishwoman Elizabeth Rambeau joins her winemaking California family, but while some see her as an unwanted “poor relation,” others covet her affections, including her troublemaker playboy cousin John Rambeau.

“This is not available on video, as far as I can determine, and if it does eventually become available, be sure that the CinemaScope ratio is reproduced. Winton Hoch and Universal-Internationalu0026#39;s master of the color cameras, Russell Metty, did some fine location work on this one, having been granted access to over a dozen properties in northern Californiau0026#39;s world-famed Wine Country. Their work made the use of Technicolor and CinemaScope more than worthwhile.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story is a bit pulpy but itu0026#39;s not that badly spun out and, surrounding Mr. Hudson, U.-I.u0026#39;s all-time box-office draw, there are some fine actors, including Dorothy McGuire, the always regal Claude Rains (playing an autocratic patriarch), and the lovely Jean Simmons, fresh from a number of above-the-title roles in Twentieth-Century Fox CinemaScope costumers. Hugo Friedhofer underscores the plotu0026#39;s halting progress with his usual taste and finesse. Iu0026#39;d forgotten he had written this score (I did see it first-run.) until a broadcast some time ago on American Movie Classics (failing, once more, to u0026quot;letterboxu0026quot; it. Wish I could sue them. One thing is for sure…I make a point to avoid purchasing anything offered by the advertisers who now clutter up their broadcasts ad nauseum.) Friedhoferu0026#39;s contribution lifts this film into the Class u0026quot;Au0026quot; category, something that cannot be said of many U.-I. releases during the Fifties.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen this film was about to be released a friend and I, up from southern California for a brief vacation in San Francisco, suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a stop on a press junket for this film. There, just a few feet away from where we stood, was Mr. Hudson towering over the diminutive Miss Simmons. I recall the patience they exhibited as they posed for numerous pictures, while answering reportersu0026#39; questions. If there was any security around for the starsu0026#39; protection, we werenu0026#39;t aware of it…a far cry from what we might observe in these paranoid times.”