[citation needed] The film was directed by Sidney Franklin, with uncredited contributions by Victor Fleming and Gustav Machaty.

In pre-World War I English-speaking northern China, young farmer Wang Lung (Paul Muni) marries O-Lan (Luise Rainer), a slave at the Great House, the residence of the most powerful family in their village.

Desperate, Wang Lung considers the advice of his pessimistic, worthless uncle (Walter Connolly) to sell his land for food, but O-Lan opposes it.

When a revolutionary gives a speech to try to drum up support for the army approaching despite rain in the north, Wang Lung and O-Lan realize the drought is over.

Then, Wang Lung becomes besotted with Lotus (Tilly Losch), a pretty, young dancer at the local tea house, and makes her his second wife.

On the latter's wedding day, Wang Lung returns the pearls to O-Lan before she dies, completely exhausted by a hard life.

Without disturbing the wedding festivities, Wang Lung quietly exits the house and regards a flowering peach tree planted by O-Lan on their marriage day.

According to Variety, Anna May Wong had been suggested for the role of O-Lan, but the Hays Code anti-miscegenation rules required Paul Muni's character's wife to be played by a white actress.

[5] Some confusion has resulted because the Production Code of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc., 1930–1934 stated only that "miscegenation (sex relationship between the white and black races) is forbidden".

[6] Chinese-American actress Soo Yong, in fact, was cast as the Chinese aunt who was married to the uncle played by Caucasian actor Walter Connolly.

"[8] Many of the characters were played by white actors made to look Asian through yellowface, make-up techniques developed by Jack Dawn and used for the first time in this film.

Initial hostility derived from resentment of the novel, which critics charged focused only on the perceived backwardness of the country, while some government officials hoped to have control which would be gone if the film work was done outside China.

The government in Nanjing did not foresee the sympathy the film would create and when MGM decided to shoot on location in China officials took extraordinary steps to control the production, forcing the studio to hire a Nationalist general to advise them on authentic settings and costumes (most of this footage was mysteriously lost when it was shipped home and had to be re-shot in California).

[citation needed] Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times praised the film as "a superb translation of a literary classic ... one of the finest things Hollywood has done this season or any other.

"[12] Variety declared it "a remarkable screen production" and called Muni's performance "splendid", but questioned whether the subject matter would make for good box office.