By Jessica Pickens
Author Edna Ferber was one of the most famous authors of her time — from the time her first book was published in the 1910s until the early 1960s. Ferber won a Pulitzer Prize in 1925 and was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers who had lunch every day at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.
Many of Ferber’s stories focus on strong women who often differ with their husbands. Despite her prestige for nearly 50 years, Ferber as a writer is largely forgotten today. However, her work lives on in her books and in the film adaptations derived from her books.
Here are a few you can rent from DVD Netflix:
Cimarron (1931)
Starring Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor
Yancey (Dix) and Sabra Cravet (Dunne) travel out west as newlyweds to settle in the new state of Oklahoma. The story spans from 1889 to 1929, following Yancey creating a newspaper in the new settlement and becoming successful… until he leaves his family. In his absence, Sabra carries on the newspaper while raising her children. Yancey drifts in and out of Sabra’s life, and she eventually becomes the first female congresswoman from the state of Oklahoma.
Another version of Cimarron was released in 1960 starring Glenn Ford and Maria Schell.
Show Boat (1951)
Starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, William Warfield
Set in the 1880s, the Cotton Blossom Show Boat is run by Capt. Andy Hawke (Brown) and his wife Parthy (Moorehead). When the boat arrives in a Mississippi town, there’s trouble for the show’s leading lady Julie Laverne (Gardner) and her husband, Steve Baker (Sterling). The sheriff says the boat has a case of miscegenation, an interracial relationship. Julie is part black and Steve is white, and the two are forced out of town by the law. In a hurry to replace their leading lady and leading man, Capt. Andy recruits his daughter Magnolia (Grayson) and a gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Keel), who was seeking passage on the boat. Magnolia and Gaylord get married, living off of Gaylord’s gambling winnings. But his luck sours and so does their marriage.
The 1951 version of Ferber’s book is the third and last film adaptation of this story. The others were released in 1929 and 1936.
Giant (1956)
Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Mercedes McCambridge, Carroll Baker, Dennis Hopper, Jane Withers
Spanning from the 1930s to 1952, the story follows the marriage of Leslie (Taylor) and Jordan 'Bick' Benedict (Hudson). The have a whirlwind courtship — Bick is visiting Maryland to buy horses from Leslie’s father. The two marry and Leslie goes home with Bick to Texas. Once in Texas, Leslie realizes she doesn’t know the man she married, and her strong-minded opinions aren’t welcome. Leslie also befriends Bick’s rival, Jett Rink (Dean). The story chronicles how the country changes from going to war, to their eldest son facing discrimination when he marries a Hispanic woman.
Jessica Pickens is a North Carolina-based writer. She has a degree in print journalism and now works in public relations. Outside of work, she writes about pre-1968 films at CometOverHollywood.com with a special interest in musicals, films released in 1939, and World War II-era films. You can follow her Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.