Zachary Scott in Jean Renoir's "The Southerner" (1945)

Description:

Texas sharecropper Sam Tucker (Zachary Scott) and his wife Nona (Betty Field) and their children leave a migrant camp to work a vacant 68‑acre tenant farm. They struggle through a harsh first winter, and when their son Jot falls ill, the family must grow a garden and find a milk cow to survive. Sam’s friend Tim offers factory work, but Sam remains determined to farm. The neighboring farmer Henry Devers tries to buy the farm, but Sam defends it, eventually catching a prized catfish that earns Devers’ respect and access to his well. A violent rainstorm destroys the family’s cotton crop and home, and the family’s resilience is tested again when they rescue a missing cow from a swollen river. After a near‑death experience, Sam reconsiders leaving farming, inspired by his wife and grandmother’s resolve. The film ends with Sam and Nona standing together in a freshly plowed field, preparing for a new season and a new crop.