Dragon Seed | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by |
Harold S. Bucquet Jack Conway |
Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
Written by |
Marguerite Roberts Jane Murfin |
Based on |
The Dragon Seed 1943 novel by Pearl S. Buck |
Starring |
Katharine Hepburn Aline MacMahon |
Music by | Herbert Stothart |
Cinematography | Sidney Wagner |
Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
Distributed by |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Loew's |
Release date
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Running time
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147 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3,070,000 |
Box office | $4,627,000 |
Dragon Seed is a 1944 war drama film starring Katharine Hepburn. Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors; but the headstrong Jade (Hepburn) stands up to the Japanese.
Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
A peaceful Chinese village is invaded by the Japanese prior to World War II. The men elect to adopt a peaceful attitude towards their conquerors and it is understood that the women will stoically acquiesce as well. But Jade (Katharine Hepburn), a headstrong young woman, intends to stand up to the Japanese whether her husband Lao Er (Turhan Bey) approves or not. She even goes so far as to learn to read and to handle a weapon, so that she may be properly equipped for both psychological and physical combat. Jade's attitude spreads to the rest of the village, convincing even the staunchest of male traditionalists that the Japanese can be defeated only by offering a strong united front; male and female.
According to MGM records the film earned $3,033,000 in the US and Canada and $1,594,000 elsewhere but because of its high cost incurred a loss to the studio of $281,000.