Swamp Water (1941) (1941)

Jean Renoir's first American film has been treated as a mere footnote in the director's career for decades, yet Twilight Time's Blu-Ray edition of SWAMP WATER ought to earn this unusual collaboration between the French filmmaker and Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century-Fox regime some new admirers.

Scripted by "Stagecoach"'s Dudley Nichols, "Swamp Water" is an interesting, if not entirely successful, melodrama set in the backwoods of Georgia where the Okefenokee Swamp comes off as a character all its own (despite having only several minutes of location shooting produced there; the rest of the film was shot on soundstages and on the Fox ranch). Dana Andrews stars as a young man trying to break free from domineering father Walter Huston's clutches; he's able to do so by venturing into the swamp after one of his beloved hunting dogs goes missing. En route, Andrews runs into escaped fugitive Walter Brennan, hiding out after having been unjustly convicted of murder, and the two forge a relationship one that also extends to Andrews courting Brennan's daughter (a young, and fetching, Anne Baxter).

Renoir's direction is superior to the material at-hand here, and as Julie Kirgo points out in her package essay, while the director's vision was compromised by the studio (resulting in Renoir using numerous stand-bys from John Ford's stock cast, as well as having to suffer an ending re-shot by producer Irving Pichel), there's enough of Renoir's artistry on-hand to mark it as far more than just an early `40s programmer.

Twilight Time's Blu-Ray presentation is exceptional for a film of its age: the 1080p AVC encoded transfer is crisp and filled with detail, while extras include an isolated track of David Buttolph's dramatic underscoring.

i remember it well i was about 9 years old when i went to the world premier at the lyric theater in waycross,ga the movie was shot in the okafeenokie swamp.i remember that outside the theater they had all kinds of snakes and animals of all kinds from the swamp in cages.the film always the memory of my younger childhood the film was released in europe on dvd and the dvd is excellent.you have to able to play region 2 thank god i can play region 2 on my oppo why they don't release it here i don't know.it was directed by jean renoir great film! so don't miss it

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I watched this movie when it was released, in 1941. Dana Andrews performance should have been nominated for an Oscar. Supporting performances by stalwarts Ward Bond and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and the always reliable Walters, Brennan and Huston are still fresh in my memory. Ann Baxter was no dog, but there was an old hound dog that could act. Just a GREAT MOVIE that became lost somewhere. Let's hope this Blu-Ray edition will revive it.

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I'm telling my age but I saw this at the movie theater many years ago and never forgot it. I have always considered this one

of my favorite movies so I'm prejudiced. You must remember the time it was made and put up with some "dated" acting.

How could you get a better cast than Walter Huston, Walter Brennan, Dana Andrews, and Anne Baxter!

I don't revue the story. Again remember the time it was. What I am so impressed with is the clarity of the pictures and

the sound. My copy is Blu-Ray I consider it outstanding when you remember this was relreased in 1941 and is black and

white.

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Jean Renoir fans won't see much of his directing technique in this swamp, but a great film nonetheless. Standard story with a great blu-ray print that looks fantastic. The sound is ample while the extra features are not....however, well worth the price for this seldom seen film with some interesting scenery in an actual swamp, which was considered quite different at the time....definetly worth a watch or two....good stuff....