A Spread Out Acre
Ty Ty Walden (Robert Ryan) has spent 15 years digging up the land the family farm resides on as his grandpa always told him that there was gold buried on the Walden land. He has even dragged his boys in to helping him dig and is prone to moving the cross which designates where God's Little Acre resides in case the treasure lays there. But Pluto Swint (Buddy Hackett) tells him he needs to get himself Dave Dawson (Michael Landon) an albino who reportedly can look through soil to see where the Gold is buried. Meanwhile Ty Ty's son Buck (Jack Lord) has woman trouble as he is convinced his wife Griselda (Tina Louise) is making eyes at an out of work mill worker.
Today was the second time I watched "God's Little Acre" only a week after the first time because after the first time I couldn't make up my mind about the movie to write a review. Truth be told I still haven't really made up my mind about it either but have a feeling that I could watch it a dozen or more times and still be kind of bemused by this movie which almost feels like it has a split personality as it mixes drama with comedy.
As such what I am going to say is that it is a very attractively shot movie with lots of beautifully framed scenes and yes by that I mean scenes which feature the light shining through a woman's dress as well as another of a woman in a bath tub. In fact I can see why on its release back in 1958 it caused controversy due to a seductive nature. I will also say that it has some full on characters which are amusing such as Robert Ryan's pa and Michael Landon's albino Dave Dawson, both of whom go over the top on their performances.
The trouble is that the storyline itself seems a little all over the place, bit like the holes on the Walden land. In fact I am beginning to wonder whether those who champion this movie had read the novel first and so knew the story before they got the movie.
What this all boils down to is that "God's Little Acre" splits me as whilst parts of it entertain me and it is undoubtedly a beautifully shot movie it just doesn't work as a whole for me as it ends up all over the place.
