You won't be disappointed!

Just perfect...

Great Film overall

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I like it that one reviewer likened this to a Rooney/Garland musical, for it really is, even including the big "production number" for a finale! I showed it to my American lit class today as part of our discussion of naturalism. I could have picked other, better films, but this fit neatly into the 75 min. period. Anyway, it got some applause at the end! There are obviously Soviet-style overtones, especially in the photography and editing of the final sequence, but the film is also explicitly Christian and pro-private ownership (John retains the deed to the farm). What saddens me is that the "survivalists" of today are mainly concerned with their own bug-out-dug-outs and stashing them with goods for their immediate families but no one else.Despite its naiveté and occasional bad acting (Tom Keene?) it remains an entertaining period film and instructive as well. John Qualen. He was so great in so many movies, including The Grapes of Wrath!

Our Daily Bread could only have been made in the Thirties, the great reformist decade in American history when all kinds of social experimentation was being tried to save our economy. This was the decade of the New Deal, but also the decade of Share The Wealth, The Townsend Plan, Social Credit, all kinds of ideas and plans that were going further than government and the men that run it were willing to go.Karen Morley and Tom Keene play Mr.&Mrs. Average Americans who are doing their best not to sink into poverty during the Great Depression. Not getting anywhere in the city, they go out to the country though neither of them know a thing about farming. Still Morley and Keene move into an abandoned farm and become squatter's. Pretty soon all kinds of folks are moving in with them and a collective of sorts is established. You might remember 26 years later something along the same lines was established in Spartacus from all the men and women freed from the gladiator school and then other places. All contribute their talents and the collective in Our Daily Bread, they even find work for a music teacher, just like Kirk Douglas found work for Tony Curtis, a minstrel.Addison Richards becomes a true believer in the work and he makes a real sacrifice which I cannot reveal, but it's a timely one.Our Daily Bread did not fare so well at the box office though with no really big stars involved, I doubt too much notice was taken. It got taken later by all kinds of investigative bodies like the House Un-American Activities Committee. Karen Morley's politics were truly reflected in Our Daily Bread, she ran for public office in New York State on the American Labor Party ticket.Watching it now I think the collective could be best compared to the kibbutz in Israel. When they started a lot of city dwellers came to live on them, but they learned the agricultural skills which are truly universal.King Vidor got good performances out of his cast which expressed the hopes and optimism of the common people. Frank Capra couldn't have done any better. Best scene in the film is the sheriff's sale on the abandoned farm where outside bidders are 'encouraged' not to bid and destroy what the people have started.Of course as Preston Sturges observed in Sullivan's Travels a little sex always helps at the box office. That's supplied by Barbara Pepper who plays a poor man's Jean Harlow (no pun intended considering Our Daily Bread's subject matter) who makes a play for Tom Keene.Our Daily Bread is incredibly dated, but still it's most reflective of certain attitudes in the decade it was made.

King Vidor's Our Daily Bread, served up the basic ingredients of a good life to the audiences of the Great Depression - people for whom all hope seemed lost. * Land* Water* Hard work* Ingenuity* Community and * A positive attitude. Kate Morley is charming and lovely as Mary - the steadfast wife of John Sims (Tom Keene). Tom is a man with good ideas and bad luck. Somewhat mercurial, however, Tom is easily discouraged by his frustrations in trying to find a job. One night an uncle comes to dine at Tom and Mary's apartment and offers Tom and Mary a farm which he can no longer pay for. From this new start, the young couple learns how to farm, how to lead, and what the meaning of community is. While the film is not overtly political, it carries an important political and ethical message - never lose sight of the basics. This message is as important for today's top-heavy economy as it was in the 1930s. Particularly inspirational to me was the character of Mary Sims. Assertive when she needed to be, Mary formed the backbone of her family and, by extension, her entire community. Character actors Addison Richards and John Qualen are also memorable as major benefactors of the farm. Keene is not the best leading man of his time, but, in general, the film is well-acted. The characters are interesting, well-written, and fairly consistent. The cinematography and choreography of the work scenes are excellent - they really make you want to work!Recommended!

Boy, is this film interpreted differently, depending on which critic is discussing it. Overall, however, most of them - including me - like this movie and find it interesting.Today's critics like to use this film as a boost for socialistic or Commununstic causes, but that's baloney. One could easily do the opposite and use this film as an analogy to the early Christians, too - people who banded together pooling their talents and possessions for the good of the whole group.This was a simply of story of America during the Great Depression with a bunch of people out of work, so they try to make a living by turning themselves into farmers and making a go of it together.Tom Keane and Karen Morley star in here, playing husband-and-wife. Morely played a very upbeat, sweet lady who was joy to watch. Keane's acting was strange. At times it bordered on raw amateurism. He also looked, with the wild expressions, as if he were back doing a silent film.The rest of the cast was solid, from the Swedish farmer to the tough guy who turned himself in to the police to help the rest of the group. Overall, a good film and worth watching, whatever your politics.