Dodsworth (1936) ⭐ 7.7 | Drama, Romance (original) (raw)
1h 41m
A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.
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They don't make such adult films anymore.
If you're tired of the actual Hollywood teenager productions, you have a chance to see some maturity watching "Dodsworth". The relationship of the Dodsworths are amazingly realistic, and the wonderful performances by Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton only improve the reality of the situation. He is amazing as a retired middle-aged industrialist and she is faultless as his futile, snob and frustrated wife. This film also got me some extra points because of Mary Astor, at the highest point of her beauty. It's masterly directed by William Wyler, and the cinematography is wonderful. One of the greatest films from the first decade of the sounded films.
"Dodsworth" is a disarmingly honest and frank depiction of a failed marriage, based on the Sinclair Lewis novel. Its naturalistic acting and its refusal to make its characters anything less than full-bodied human beings make it feel way ahead of its time. It's never mentioned along with other classic films of the period--probably because it doesn't have an epic scope--but it should be.
Walter Huston gives an absolutely flawless performance in the title role. His type is so recognizable, even today: the successful American business man who values the simplest and most traditional of American values, and who comes across as provincial and crass to the rest of the world. Ruth Chatterton meets Huston's performance every step of the way as Dodsworth's wife, glad of the material comfort her husband can provide, but embarrassed by him and aware that he will prevent her from joining the world of high culture to which she wants to belong. It is to the movie's distinct credit that neither of these characters is either hero or villain. Dodsworth is crass and unsophisticated; yet at the same time he's honest and never misleads his wife into thinking he's something that he's not. Mrs. Dodsworth has a right to be bored by the kind of life Dodsworth is content with, but she might have thought of that before so readily accepting his financial success.
I don't really know for sure, but I have a feeling this movie might have made people very uncomfortable in 1936. I doubt married couples were encouraged to turn too critical an eye on their own marriages back then, and I suspect that more people than not decided to stick it out in unhappy marriages rather than violate a sense of social propriety. Before the days when people dated for a few years before getting married, many people probably learned about the kind of person they were marrying only after the wedding day. "Dodsworth" beautifully captures the sad, melancholy feeling of waking up one morning and realizing you're not married to the person you thought you were.
Grade: A
This is truly a remarkable movie.
It is staged beautifully. Acted superbly. And the directing, shooting and cutting is nearly flawless.
Certain scenes stay with me most vividly...
- Mary Astor warning Ruth Chatterton off of Paul Lucas with nothing more than a brief line and a quick look.
- Huston and Chatterton undressing while their marriage starts to crumble.
- Huston getting the wire from Europe, just after being so much of a blowhard with his family.
- Walter Huston connecting with Mary Astor in Italy.
It is a movie that could not, would not be made today. There is no violence, no overt sex. It is, as other posters have noted, an adult movie, made for the sensibilities of adults.
And Mary Astor is just radiant and beautiful throughout...
MMG
We're taught to "take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth." [Desiderata.] While most people allow maturation to occur naturally and be at peace with their physical evolvement, some do not.
Like Sinclair Lewis' heroine, people who doggedly resist change may end up disappointed and bitter. Such resistance is the basis for this perceptive adult drama on marital strife.
Ruth Chatterton is ideally cast, looking young while obviously no longer in her early thirties. Her frivolous banter provides a dramatic clash with Walter Hutson's aging hero.
While I find "Dodsworth" strangely depressing, it's a personal reaction, for this is a very well conceived and produced film, securely directed by William Wyler, and solidly scripted by Sidney Howard.
Mary Astor shows warmth as "the other woman" and Spring Byington offers an emotional balance to the proceedings. With excellent cinematography and art direction, "Dodsworth" remains a telling adult drama of the dangers which may transpire by not surrendering youthful matters to advancing years.
Sophisticated, cutting, knowledgeable...a triumph for Wyler and his cast
Sinclair Lewis story about how time affects a long-term marriage comes to the screen with still-relevant talk weighing the issues behind a union which doesn't have the same spark as before. Retired, wealthy American businessman and his wife finally take that trip to Europe they've been dreaming about--but, on the ship going over to England, the wife finds that men still find her desirable in a way that her older husband perhaps takes for granted. Worse, their daughter has just made them grandparents for the first time, something the Mrs. doesn't want to share with anyone for fear of being out of her league with the flirtatious men in her path. William Wyler directs with a knowing eye and ear, and leads Walter Huston (Oscar-nominated) and Ruth Chatterton click immediately with these (not always likable) characters. Huston racks his spirit trying to come up with ways of entertaining--and keeping a hold on--his selfish spouse, unable to reconcile the fact that maybe she's just a fixture in his life, no longer a great love. Excellent support from Mary Astor, an extremely young David Niven (as a shipboard gigolo), and Maria Ouspenskaya (also Oscar-nominated) adds to the immense pleasure of watching this classic drama. A knockout. ***1/2 from ****
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By what name was Dodsworth (1936) officially released in India in English?