The Sea of Grass

Released Feb 26, 1947

2 hr. 2 min.

Western

List

14%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

36%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lutie Cameron (Katharine Hepburn) arrives in New Mexico, having married cattleman James Brewton (Spencer Tracy) after a short courtship. She finds that her husband is considered a tyrant by locals for jealously guarding his million acres of land, the "Sea of Grass," against homesteaders. Lutie is unfaithful to him with his enemy, liberal lawyer Brice Chamberlain (Melvyn Douglas), and conceives a son. When James finds out, he orders her to leave -- without her two children.

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Steve D

Ok but only because of the cast.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watched it just for Tracy and Hepburn... Love them usually, and this movie is okay but there is indeed far better fare out there!!!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I love this film. Very important message about the farming practices that had been learned by the time ths film was made. Plowing up the grasses on the plains in Oklahoma had contibuted to the mass migration of the Okies in the lates 20's and early 30's. Watch Ken Burns film on this topic, and you will see how relevent the story is in this film, especially Tracy's explanation in the early scenes at the court trial.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

kazan plus spencer/hepburn = good stuff

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

the direction is great, and katharine hepburn and spencer tracy give phenomenal performances, but "the sea of grass" is overly long and never as interesting as it could have been.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Minor entry in the Hepburn/Tracy canon is justifiably obscure. The script is long winded but not terribly deep. As far as the performances Spencer Tracy is right at home as the rigid man whose pride works to his detriment but Kate seems uncomfortable in her role and it doesn't really fit her, a wounded dignity is needed and her tough resilience is at odds with that, Margaret Sullavan would have been much better suited to the part. The basic structure of the film works against what was always so special about the pair and that's their interaction, for great swatches of this they are apart. Robert Walker shows up late in the proceeding and injects some much needed life in the picture but is gone too soon. One good piece of casting is Phyllis Thaxter as the pair's grown daughter, she bears a striking resemblance to both and really does seem as if she could be their child. The best performance in the whole show is turned in by the reliable Edgar Buchanan as the family standby, his involvement with the others is one of the few parts that doesn't feel artificial. The usually reliable Melvyn Douglas is defeated by a stick figure character. The pace of the film is too slow, this was an early film for Kazan and he still had some learning to do, and by the end it becomes a trial too sit though. Not awful but a miss.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Elia Kazan

Director

Spencer Tracy

Col. James B. "Jim" Brewton

Katharine Hepburn

Lutie Cameron Brewton

Melvyn Douglas

Brice Chamberlain

Robert Walker

Brock Brewton

Phyllis Thaxter

Sara Beth Brewton

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Shirley O'Hara

The New Republic

It seems wasteful to let two such good, attractive actors wander through a lavish production like thoroughbred somnambulists.

Jan 23, 2013

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

To the credit of Elia Kazan, it must be said that his direction has pace, but the writers and others have betrayed him.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 1, 2007

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Film is loaded with very superior acting and spectacular imaginative photography.

Nov 1, 2007

Full Review

Jack Moffitt

Esquire Magazine

Spencer Tracy, as the rugged individualist, does his best to look monumental and inspired. But the inspiration seldom gets off the ground.

Oct 7, 2020

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Fails to deliver the required action for a western.

Rated: C+

Oct 1, 2014

Full Review

TV Guide

At 131 minutes, this sprawling western was long on talk and short on action.

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 1, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

Lutie Cameron (Katharine Hepburn) arrives in New Mexico, having married cattleman James Brewton (Spencer Tracy) after a short courtship. She finds that her husband is considered a tyrant by locals for jealously guarding his million acres of land, the "Sea of Grass," against homesteaders. Lutie is unfaithful to him with his enemy, liberal lawyer Brice Chamberlain (Melvyn Douglas), and conceives a son. When James finds out, he orders her to leave -- without her two children.

Director: Elia Kazan
Screenwriter: Conrad Richter, Marguerite Roberts, Vincent Lawrence
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 26, 1947, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2009

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