Went to the Eastman Film Museum in Rochester, NY and viewed this film a few years ago and was an amazing experience. The film is in pristine condition and I had my own viewing room where I could watch it (with amazement) by the acting, performances as well as the storyline. The storyline follows a young woman's attempt to restore a southern plantation back to its pre-Civil War glory. Joanna Tate (Janet Gaynor), originally travels from her home in Pennsylvania to the plantation in order to collect her deceased father's belongings. Though he didn't own the plantation himself, he had worked there as a farmer for a number of years. Once she arrives, Joanna (Gaynor) finds that the actual plantation owner, Bob Connelly (Lionel Barrymore), is a Civil War veteran who, despite his dogged determination to return his farmland to what it was before the war, has fallen to alcoholism. Least expected, however, was the love that would develop between Joanna and the plantation's handsome young heir, Will Connelly (Robert Young). Joanna and Connelly (Young) eventually marry, and the farm is successfully restored through their dedication and hard work. At the end of the movie, they have two children (one of whom is Shirley Temple) and it is a very sweet ending.
Review of Carolina
