Story of movie Dragon Seed Film : Dragon Seed is a 1944 war drama film starring Katharine Hepburn. Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors; but the headstrong Jade (Hepburn) stands up to the Japanese.
| Dragon Seed | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Harold S. Bucquet Jack Conway |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Written by | Marguerite Roberts Jane Murfin |
| Based on | Dragon Seed 1943 novel by Pearl S. Buck |
| Starring | Katharine Hepburn Aline MacMahon |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | Sidney Wagner |
| Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Loew's |
Release date |
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Running time | 147 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,070,000 |
| Box office | $4,627,000 |
Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Screenplay
A peaceful Chinese village is invaded by the Japanese prior to World War II. The men elect to adopt a peaceful attitude towards their conquerors and it is understood that the women will stoically acquiesce as well. But Jade (Katharine Hepburn), a headstrong young woman, intends to stand up to the Japanese whether her husband Lao Er (Turhan Bey) approves or not. She even goes so far as to learn to read and to handle a weapon, so that she may be properly equipped for both psychological and physical combat. Jade's attitude spreads to the rest of the village, convincing even the staunchest of male traditionalists that the Japanese can be defeated only by offering a strong united front; male and female.
- Katharine Hepburn as Jade
- Walter Huston as Ling Tan
- Aline MacMahon as Ling Tan's Wife
- Akim Tamiroff as Wu Lien
- Turhan Bey as Lao Er Tan
- Hurd Hatfield as Lao San Tan
- J. Carrol Naish as Japanese Kitchen Overseer
- Agnes Moorehead as Third Cousin's Wife
- Henry Travers as Third Cousin
- Robert Bice as Lao Ta Tan
- Robert Lewis as Captain Sato
- Frances Rafferty as Orchid Tan
- Leonard Strong as a Japanese Official
- Jacqueline deWit as Wu Lien's Wife
- Clarence Lung as Fourth Cousin
- Paul E. Burns as Neighbor Shen
- Anna Demetrio as Wu Sao
According to MGM records the film earned $3,033,000 in the US and Canada and $1,594,000 elsewhere but because of its high cost incurred a loss to the studio of $281,000.
- Whitewashing in film
- List of American films of 1944
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