the southerner be notable for give zachary scott his first real chance to shine a a promising new movie actor head for stardom and team him with the always reliable betty field a the wife of a dirt poor farmer in this depression era saga and uplifting despite the adversity of their situation due to jean renoir fine direction . grow your own crop and scott and a texas farmer and be tell by his die uncle . he struggle with his family to do just that and the southerner become a tale of survival against the cruel twist and turn of nature . beulah bondi be the stubborn granny whose bark be bad than her bite and but she do tend to get annoy in her whining way . work the land and make farmland self support be never an easy matter and it get plenty of negative treatment here with the odds against the struggle family at every turn . j. carroll naish and norman lloyd a hard nosed neighbor make themselves utterly unlikeable ( but believable ) a scott uncooperative neighbor and unwilling to spare some milk for him when his son be ill. percy kilbride come to his rescue with a rented cow and later become his father in law and marry blanche yurka . but there be still hardships ahead and include a severe storm that destroy all the crop and serve to emphasize the man against nature theme of the entire story . everything be destroy but the human spirit . scott and field and bondi give heartfelt performance and with bondi a bit over the top a granny . it not in the same class with the grape of wrath but it do create a sympathetic portrait of farmer who work the land . base on a novel call hold autumn in your hand and it stand the test of time largely because of the performance .