So Big (1953 film)
| So Big | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Robert Wise |
| Produced by | Henry Blanke |
| Written by | John Twist |
| Based on |
So Big by Edna Ferber |
| Starring |
Jane Wyman Sterling Hayden Steve Forrest Nancy Olson |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Ellsworth Fredericks |
| Edited by | Thomas Reilly |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million (US) |
So Big is a 1953 American drama film that stars Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden and Steve Forrest, directed by Robert Wise.
The screenplay by John Twist was based on the 1924 novel by Edna Ferber. It was the third adaptation of the book, following a 1924 silent film with Colleen Moore and So Big! with Barbara Stanwyck, released in 1932.
In the late 1890s, boarding school student Selina Peake learns of the death of her father, who has left her penniless as the result of bad business transactions. August Hempel, the father of her best friend Julie, secures her a teaching position in New Holland, a small Dutch farming community outside Chicago. There she rents a room in the home of Klaas Pool, who lives with his unhappy wife Maartje and intelligent but troubled adolescent son Roelf.
After discovering the boy has an ear for music, Selina gives Roelf piano lessons and encourages his artistic talents, leading him away from juvenile delinquency. She meets Pervus DeJong and eventually accepts his proposal of marriage, settling into the daily routine of a farmer's wife. The two have a son they christen Dirk, but as he grows older he is nicknamed So Big.
Dirk, like Roelf, exhibits signs of artistic abilities. His mother encourages him, despite her husband's disapproval. When the boy is eight years old, Pervus dies and Selina struggles to run the farm alone. She and Dirk travel to the Chicago Haymarket to sell their produce, but no one there will deal with a woman.
Facing financial difficulties, Selina reunites with Julie, now the divorced mother of two. Her father offers to invest in Selina's plan to grow exotic vegetables. Her asparagus is a huge success and she is able to send Dirk to college to study architecture. Following graduation, he finds employment as a draughtsman and continues his relationship with Julie's daughter Paula, a social climber who convinces him to forgo his career in favor of becoming a more immediate financial success. Dirk accepts a job in sales, disappointing his mother so much, she no longer calls him So Big.
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Wikipedia