This Earth Is Mine (1959 film)
| This Earth Is Mine | |
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| Directed by | Henry King |
| Written by |
Alice Tisdale Hobart (novel) Casey Robinson (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Rock Hudson Jean Simmons Claude Rains Dorothy McGuire |
| Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
| Cinematography |
Winton C. Hoch Russell Metty |
| Edited by | Ted J. Kent |
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Production
company |
Universal Pictures
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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124 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.4 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
This Earth Is Mine is a 1959 American drama film directed by Henry King and starring Rock Hudson and Jean Simmons. The film portrays the lives and loves of the Rambeau family, a California winemaking dynasty trying to survive during Prohibition in the United States.
Elizabeth (Jean Simmons), an English cousin of the Rambeau family, arrives in California in 1931 for a casual visit with her aunt and uncle, only to find her future pre-determined with a pre-arranged marriage to Andre Swann, a young cousin of another branch of the family. Another cousin, John Rambeau (Rock Hudson), disagrees with those plans, informs Elizabeth that she's being married off to consolidate the family's wine holdings, hints at other dark secrets of the Rambeau family, and casually romances her. Elizabeth is conflicted over the entire series of events.
The patriarch of the family, Phillipe (Claude Rains), wanting to keep the winemaking heritage of his family pure, refuses to deal with bootleggers eager for a ready-made supply of alcohol. John, however, is not so righteous, and arranges deals with Chicago gangsters for the valley's wine supply. Violence, gunplay, and wildfires ensue. Elizabeth is caught in the middle, between Andre, the gentle man she is to marry (but who wants to be a priest) and John, the passionate man ready to make a deal with the devil to survive. And John may already have started a family of his own, fathering an illegitimate child with a vineyard worker—and the woman's husband is not one to go along with the whole sordid mess. Months, and years, of lies, blackmail and conflict follow, ending with the romantic union of John and Elizabeth, and their commitment to the Rambeau winemaking heritage.
In 1931, Lon Rambeau sends his daughter Elizabeth Rambeau away from London to Napa Valley, California to visit Lon's father Philippe Rambeau and Phillipe's daughter, Martha Fairon, owners of vast vineyards and a grand estate. Philippe and Martha welcome Elizabeth lavishly, then reveal the real reason for the celebration of her arrival: her betrothal, unknown to Elizabeth, between her and her cousin, Andre Swann. John Rambeau, obviously disliked by matriarch Martha, arrives at the party, flirts with Elizabeth and leads her out into the vineyards, where he mischievously reveals Rambeau family secrets: Philippe uses marriage to tighten the family hold on the valley; Phillipe's daughter, Martha and daughter-in-law, Charlotte (John's mother) had been married off to local landowners in order to increase the vineyard holdings — Phillipe now wants to marry off granddaughter Elizabeth to Andre in order to absorb the Stag's Leap District vineyard holdings in the Napa Valley. (also, Andre had wanted to become a priest, but was not allowed to do so, and had been forced to join the family business).
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