"The Southerner", however, is now regarded by some reviewers and film historians to be his "Hollywood masterpiece" and generally recognized as the French director's "most American" film with regard to its content, structure, and overall presentation.Contemporary news items in Hollywood reported that Joel McCrea and his wife Frances Dee were set to play the lead roles of Sam and Nona Tucker in "The Southerner", but the couple left the project in pre-production due to McCrea's dissatisfaction with the script and his "creative differences" with Renoir.