Micitype Pretty Good

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

mark.waltz The Erie Canal is the setting for this delightful slice-of-life drama that involves the romance between the cook on a barge (Janet Gaynor) and the farmer (Henry Fonda) she falls in love with. She's the target of the volatile Charles Bickford's unwanted affections and suffers a ton in order to realize it's Fonda she is meant to be with. Bickford is one of the most despicable bullies in film history, a character so vile you might find yourself hissing at him. In addition to Fonda (his film debut here), a ton of character performers also appeared in that year's "Way Down East" which takes melodrama to an entirely different level. Margaret Hamilton plays a much nicer character here than she did in "Way Down East", the type you'd later expect Marjorie Main to be playing, sort of a thinner Tugboat Annie. Andy Devine and Slim Summerville also would go on to appear in that film as well. Not as bratty as her recent "Bright Eyes" terror, Jane Withers is still pretty feisty.Under Victor Fleming's tough direction, this is memorable for its boat race towards the end of the film and certainly a manly man's film. Fonda's character (which he originated on stage) is the archetype for practically every role he'd play, the quiet everyman who must step up to the plate and show that underneath his seemingly docile nature is a force of nature ready to explode when the bully pushes him too far. It is a far cry from its musical remake which almost seems like an entirely different story.

Martha Wilcox Charles Bickford plays a muscular canal worker who fights his way through a community who enjoy watching a fight. It's like being at school where pupils relish the prospect of watching a fight in the playground.Henry Fonda makes his film debut in this Victor Fleming directed offering. He enters the scene as a passive farmer with no presence or personality. Janet Gaynor plays a charming cook with a half smile that Fonda falls for.Andy Devine plays a supporting role as his usual self.The tension between Bickford and Fonda doesn't ring true. They are not a match of equals, nor do you believe that Fonda would win a fight with Bickford. The film should have started with Bickford beating Fonda in a fight, and then the rest of the film having Fonda evolve into a man and a equal that can challenge and win a fight with Bickford. Fonda didn't prove himself in this film, and it was obviously a vehicle for him to be launched into Hollywood.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre "The Farmer Takes a Wife" is remembered as Henry Fonda's film debut. He had previously starred in this story as a Broadway play. Reportedly, when Fonda met this film's director (Victor Fleming) for the first time during pre-production, Fonda asked Fleming why so many scenes featured a woman named Dolly who never said anything. Fonda then showed Fleming a line in the shooting script: "Dan and Molly cross the field. Dolly with them." He didn't know that this refers to a camera's dolly shot!The film and play are based on a novel by Walter D Edmonds, who specialised in novels about the early history of the United States. Here, we're on the Erie Canal in 1853. For nearly 30 years, the river people have prospered from the canal, which enabled easy transport between New York City and the Great Lakes. But now the railroads are coming, and the river barges may become obsolete...This film splendidly conveys that transitional moment in history, with only a few historic errors (Amerindians in New York State didn't wear Sioux war bonnets) and a few awkward examples of phony prole dialogue: I doubt that anyone ever actually referred to Utica as "Yoot-ickey".Fonda and Janet Gaynor give excellent performances, with splendid chemistry between them. Slim Summerville gives an astonishingly nuanced performance, and even perennial scene-chewers Charles Bickford and Jane Withers are good here.Margaret Hamilton, who was in the Broadway play with Fonda, repeats her stage role here: for once, she portrays a sympathetic character. I never thought I'd describe Hamilton as "pretty", but in this movie -- wearing a frilly gingham frock and an elaborate hairstyle -- she seems almost attractive for once.SLIGHT SPOILERS. There's one wince-worthy scene in this film (it wasn't in the novel or the play) when the bargees meet touring actor Junius Brutus Booth and his 15-year-old son John Wilkes Booth. The boy reads a newspaper article about a rising politician named Abraham Lincoln, and vows to become just as famous one day. Here's the truth: although Junius Booth toured with his elder son Edwin, younger son John Wilkes was kept home in Virginia ... and this is one reason why, in adulthood, the embittered John Wilkes Booth was inspired to commit the assassination that would make him more famous than his brother and their father.I also cringed at a scene when Andy Devine calls out to Janet Gaynor and she asks who's there. (Their characters have already met.) Devine had one of the most distinctive (and most annoying) voices in Hollywood, so Gaynor shouldn't have to ask him to identify himself.My all-time favourite character actress, Eily Malyon, is seen here in a very brief role ... and she actually sings, for perhaps the only time in her long acting career.There are many delights in this movie; I only regret that this is one more film in which a man must prove his manhood by getting into a brawl. I'll rate 'The Farmer Takes a Wife' 9 out of 10.

MartinHafer This film is set along the Erie Canal in New York in the mid-19th century. Henry Fonda (in his first film) plays a gentle man who is spending time on the river but who is only doing this until he can buy a farm and settle down. Janet Gaynor plays a lady who was raised on the canal and cannot imagine living anywhere else. So, in a coincidence that only Hollywood could love, they naturally fall in love. However, a bully of a man (Charles Bickford) loves Gaynor and has vowed to whip any man who takes her. When Fonda seems unwilling to fight Bickford, the shallow Gaynor is upset--she wants a man who loves a good scrap. Eventually, it's inevitable and Fonda proves he's neither a wimp nor is he about to become another one of Bickford's victories. Then, and only then, Gaynor is willing to marry Fonda and move to the farm.If you think about it, this plot is an awful lot like a Popeye Cartoon--with Gaynor playing the Olive Oyl role and Bickford as Bluto! However, an even closer parallel is if you've ever seen "The Quiet Man". In fact, although the films occur in different countries and at different times, the main plot points are just about identical and must have inspired this John Ford classic. Unfortunately, while this seems true, THE FARMER TAKES A WIFE is far from a classic. It is very watchable and worth seeing (especially so that you can see Fonda in his first role), but the film just doesn't have the wonderful supporting characters and feel like "The Quiet Man". Good--especially for Fonda who carries the film almost single-handedly.