Dragon Seed

Released Jul 20, 1944

2 hr. 25 min.

Drama

List

Reviews

40%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

As the Second Sino-Japanese War erupts in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of northern China, the rural Tan family in southern China go about their daily chores without notice of the impending conflict. Jade (Katharine Hepburn), wife of Lao Er Tan (Turhan Bey), desires books, an unconventional request for a Chinese wife. But when war finally reaches the family, Jade is first to join the resistance, leading pacifist patriarch Ling Tan (Walter Huston) to concern over his family's entry in the war.

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An interesting story that is ruined by ridiculous yellowface, a bad script and poor acting. The film concerns a Chinese family that lives on a farm and their quaint lives are devastated by an invading Japanese force. The most distracting thing in this film is the yellow face. You just can't get past as it is so distracting. The script does not help either as it is filled with hundreds of metaphors which become so tiresome. Agnes Moorehead's acting stood out as the most ridiculous out of an already badly acted cast. Hepburn's wooden acting and Huston's makeup (?) and exasperating metaphors do not help the film. Aline MacMahon was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the mother of the family, and while her acting was okay, her acting is not worthy of an Oscar nomination and is also not nearly as good as Angela Lansbury's acting in Gaslight (the only other nominee I have seen). I think that the basic story was intriguing and the cinematography and production design was well done but the acting and the script is a real hinderance to this film. The cinematography was also Oscar-nominated which, out of the nominees I have seen, was better than Hitchcock's Lifeboat but not as good as Gaslight. The first half of the film is very focused on wife-beating (which is ironic as the film was written by two women and is listed as F-rated on IMDb) and the ending is also very abrupt and does not serve as a satisfying conclusion. The Japanese are also portrayed to be moustache-twirling villains (unsurprising, as the film was made during WW2). Overall, the film serves as a poor adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's work and, even when discounting the yellow face, is just a laughably bad and boring film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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steve d

Racist and poorly acted.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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ashley h

Dragon Seed is an excellent film. It is about the lives of a small Chinese village which are turned upside down when the Japanese invade it. Katherine Hepburn and Walter Huston give incredible performances. The screenplay is well written. Harold S. Bucquet did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this movie because of the drama. Dragon Seed is a must see.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

In the beginning stages of watching this movie I could not get my myself attached to the movie. The lack of Asian actors in any of the main or substantial roles was an immediate turnoff. As the further along I watched I was starting to understand probably around that time the English language was still difficult for many of the Chinese to command, not just the fact that Hollywood of course was still operating under a bias and racist platform in the purest of form. I started to engaged in the story of a family whose love and loyalty toward not just each other but to the entire Chinese culture are being tested during the Japanese attacks pre WW2. Look past the odd makeup and get ups and one can see the acting by Hepburn and Huston along with others was adequate. This film does not have a standard to say for Hepburn to excel in this role. It does not call for her to shine because the story does not fit with her best qualities as an actress.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

hepburn playing asian actually all asian roles played by white actors doesn't hold up well today

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

The script was rather ridiculous and Hepburn unconvincing.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Jack Conway

Director

Harold S. Bucquet

Director

Katharine Hepburn

Jade Tan

Walter Huston

Ling Tan

Aline MacMahon

Ling Tan's Wife

Akim Tamiroff

Wu Lien

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Elena de la Torre

Cine-Mundial

A first class show. [Full review in Spanish]

Sep 18, 2019

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Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Quite moving, strong drama featuring Kate Hepburn.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 20, 2008

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

One of MGM's worst melodramas of the 40s and a low point in the career of Hepburn, here miscast as a young and alert Chinese woman. Propaganda picture was made to please the government (and its Chinese allies) but by today's standards it's racist.

Rated: D

May 6, 2007

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

That Caucasian actors are cast in the primary Oriental roles greatly detracts from the film's authenticity.

Rated: B-

Jul 27, 2006

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Synopsis

As the Second Sino-Japanese War erupts in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of northern China, the rural Tan family in southern China go about their daily chores without notice of the impending conflict. Jade (Katharine Hepburn), wife of Lao Er Tan (Turhan Bey), desires books, an unconventional request for a Chinese wife. But when war finally reaches the family, Jade is first to join the resistance, leading pacifist patriarch Ling Tan (Walter Huston) to concern over his family's entry in the war.

Director: Jack Conway, Harold S. Bucquet
Distributor: Loew's Inc.
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 20, 1944, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017

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