South Riding is a 1938 British drama film directed by Victor Saville and produced by Alexander Korda, starring Edna Best, Ralph Richardson, Edmund Gwenn and Ann Todd. It was the film debut of a 14-year-old Glynis Johns. It is based on the 1936 novel South Riding by Winifred Holtby. The BBC produced a TV adaptation in 2011.
A squire becomes involved in local politics.
Hugh Stewart who edited it called it "one of the very best scripts ever written".
Kinematograph Weekly reported the film did well at the British box office in August 1938.
TV Guide wrote, "Not an altogether satisfying love story, it is more interesting as a portrait of pre-WW II life in the country. Excellent sets by Meerson and well shot by Stradling"; while Time Out wrote, "Saville carries Winifred Holtby's tart, witty exposé of Yorkshire power politics to the screen with breathtaking, and totally unexpected, panache." Leonard Maltin called it "Smoothly made and superbly acted by a flawless cast."