During a severe Maine winter, the Polish-American Janowski family moves to a farm near the farms of Mark Shaw and his brother George. Mark, a hard working farmer, is used to aiding his lazy brother when things go badly, much to the disgust of his second wife Cora and her daughter Doris. Doris hates farm life, so she is disappointed when Mark gives George a cow that Cora had planned to sell to earn money to send her to secretarial school in the city. Jen, Mark’s daughter from his first marriage, tries to comfort Doris, who responds bitterly. When Ollie Shaw, Jen’s brother, returns from college, he makes friends with Stan Janowski, who has always wanted to be a farmer even though he is a talented violinist. When Stan and Jen finally meet, they realize they share a love of farming. Not everyone is as happy on the farm as Jen, however. Mil, George’s wife, is tired of their poverty and hard work and confesses she is planning to leave her husband. Doris unsuccessfully tries to force Ollie to quit school and marry her. After Stan’s tailor father collapses from exhaustion, the Janowski family, with the exception of Stan, returns to the city. Mil learns she is pregnant and decides to stay with her husband. Stan asks Jen to marry him, but she wants to be sure he really loves farming and is not staying just because he loves her. Having failed to marry Ollie, Doris flirts with Stan, convincing him to take her to the Halloween dance, and while they are there, Stan’s house is hit by lightning and burns to the ground. Stan must return to the city to earn the money to start again, and Doris asks him to take her with him. She tells Jen they are planning to marry, but Jen learns otherwise from Stan’s letters. The following spring, Stan returns to the farm and Jen finally agrees to marry him. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch As the Earth Turns (1934)
