God's Little Acre (1958)

In the heartland of America, cotton farmer Ty Ty Walden lives under the unyielding belief that a golden treasure was buried by his late grandfather on their family farm. For a decade and a half since his grandfather's death, he has relentlessly and manually excavated the earth, with his two grown sons Buck and Shaw, in the hopes of unearthing this elusive wealth. Ty Ty conducts this arduous quest in the name of God, to whom he devoutly looks and receives divine providence. Convinced by his ambitious friend Pluto Swint, an aspiring sheriff, Ty Ty becomes persuaded that the local albino, Dave Dawson, harbors mystical abilities to pinpoint the exact location of the buried gold. This revelation fuels Ty Ty's conviction that prosperity is within his grasp. Yet, beneath the surface, the Walden family is splintered by strife. Financial hardship plagues them, and with Ty Ty's singular obsession, their farm lies barren and unproductive. Buck, green-eyed with jealousy, suspects his wife, Griselda, of harboring affections for her former lover, Will Thompson. Adding to the tangled web, Will is married to Rosamund, Ty Ty's very own daughter, who lives in fear of her husband, a man adrift in life since losing his job at the now-defunct local textile mill. Ty Ty's youngest daughter, the lively and flirtatious "Darlin'" Jill, teeters on the brink of womanhood. Meanwhile, the entire family is distanced from Jim Leslie, Ty Ty's other son, who, having married into wealth, perceives himself as superior to his kin. In his spiritual fervor, Ty Ty has set aside a portion of land as "God's Little Acre," dedicated to God's work. Yet, in his desperate pursuit of gold, he transgresses this sacred boundary, moving the marker. Concurrently, he resorts to abducting the albino to aid his quest. Amidst the turmoil, Griselda is suspected of engaging in an illicit romance with a labor activist, unemployed since the mill's closure. The politically ambitious Pluto Swint, envisions a future with "Darlin'" Jill, relentlessly courting her. Despite the family's mounting troubles, Ty Ty remains steadfast in his belief that the buried gold will heal their wounds. As the Waldens grapple with their individual predicaments, they all become entangled in Ty Ty's relentless quest for the buried gold, a quest that tests their faith, love, and the strength of their family bonds.

God's Little Acre is a comedy movie featuring Robert Ryan.

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