Dodsworth | Mary Astor, John Barclay

Dodsworth | Mary Astor, John Barclay | One of the True Cinematic Greats

DVDs:

Dodsworth

	Dodsworth Mary Astor, John Barclay MGM (Video & DVD), 2001 average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A brash american industrialistruns headlong into europes old world ways-and his wifes romantic flings. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 01/25/2005 Starring: David Niven Walter Huston Run time: 101 minutes Rating: Nr Director: William Wyler

FORGOTTEN CLASSIC

Loosely interpreted version of Sinclair Lewis' best novel (arguably) springs to life on the screen as a Hollywood classic, seldom seen or mentioned anymore. Huston plays Sam Dodsworth, a bought out American businessman with plenty of time, money, and a wife with whom he's been going through the motions for years. A trip to Europe finds Mrs. Dodsworth on the hunt, first with a young David Niven, later with a young Frenchman ( Kurt), whom she's going to marry after a quick divorce in Vienna. Sam reacquaints himself, quite by accident,to Edith ( Mary Astor), a widowed American living in Southern Europe. This duo falls in love, but when Kurt's mother refuses to have her young son married to an older Mrs. Dodsworth (Chatterton), the cagey wife postpones the divorce and agrees to meet Sam to sail back to America. What follows, you'll have to see for yourself. Take it from this reviewer, the final 3 minutes are worth the price of most movies.

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One of the True Cinematic Greats

It would be difficult to find a more sterling example than "Dodsworth" of what the American cinema can do when it turns to our own fine literature for a story, and then utilizes first-class scriptwriting, expert direction, and a magnificent cast to bring that story to life onscreen.

This tale of a successful American industrialist retiring between the two World Wars, and the impact of his retirement on his long-time marriage, is based upon the novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis. In the tradition of good storytelling, the film explores social and cultural values through character development and personal conflict.

Samuel Dodsworth represents the best in American business: a man who has done well not only because he is shrewd and hardworking, but because he subscribes doggedly to old-fashioned principles of upright behavior. He has applied these principles both to his business and his personal life. As the film opens, Sam says farewell to the successful auto plant he has built up in a small city somewhere in the midwest, and which he has just sold. He departs having earned the respect and affection of all his workers, and now he prepares to take his wife on that long-deferred trip to Europe they have dreamed of for years. They have a newly married daughter, their parenting responsibilities are over, thanks to the sale of the auto plant they have plenty of money, and they are now setting off to enjoy the first phase of what, ostensibly, is a well-earned, leisured retirement.

Sam adores his wife, Fran, a still-pretty and elegant blonde just entering middle age. Fran, however, has no intention of acknowledging her incipient middle-age, and we soon see that husband and wife have very different expectations of their European voyage. Sam sees the trip as a chance, at last, to indulge his burning curiosity about the rest of the world in the company of the woman he has always loved. Fran sees the trip as a first step to grander social horizons that she clearly feels she has always been cut out for, but that were out of reach in the provincial midwest. Fran brings along an extensive, costly wardrobe and the first thing she does is overdress for dinner on their first night at sea. As their journey progresses, the shallowness of Fran's values are increasingly exposed. She is seduced by the gloss of European culture and sophistication she encounters without questioning whether anything more solid lies beneath. She begins to view her marriage, as well as her midwestern home base, as insufficient showcases for her true destiny as a Great Lady. She begins flirtations with European men whose values in such matters she does not quite grasp, and gets into trouble. Little by little, as their journey progresses, the couple's at first seemingly small differences in personal and world views widen into larger and larger fissures, until a major crisis occurs. Sam is deeply hurt and confronts decisions that violate his long-held principles, while Fran deludes herself into false hopes for her future.

The cast is, without exception, superb. Exceptional mention must go to Ruth Chatterton for her brittle yet vulnerable portrayal of Fran - she nearly walks off with the movie. Walter Huston as Sam manages to combine strength of character with a wistfulness that is touching in so strong a man. Mary Astor, as Edith Cortright, the woman Sam meets in Europe whose values are so much closer to his than Fran's, brings all her accustomed intelligence and taste to this role. A young David Niven appears as the first of Fran's European flirtations. And, in an unforgettable scene, Maria Ouspenskaya, in a brief role as the formidable Baroness von Obersdorf, tells Fran the truth about herself as no one else has quite dared to.

Quiet and literate as it is, this is a riveting film. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn, "Dodsworth" richly deserves its place in the highest ranks of American cinema - once seen, its characters will remain clearly etched in memory.

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Amazon has the wrong name for the main male lead

Where on earth did you get "John Barkley"? Amazon should enlarge and look at it's own pictured product. They will see Walter Huston who plays the main character "Dodsworth" magnific
ently. Any movie lover should be familiar with his name if only because John Huston is his son. He directed his own father in the much loved classic "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". He plays the old geezer who almost steals the show from Humphrey Bogart which is quite a feat. Dodsworth is one of his many outstanding performances, which he played on Broadway before the movie.

It is unexcusable not to credit him, and I will not buy this product from Amazon until it gets its information straight. The main stars of this great and very appealing even now movie are Huston, Mary Astor, Ruth
Chatterton and Paul Lukas, and it was directed by William Wyler. It is a superbly acted and unusually mature must see for any true movie buff.

Will Amazon read this? I doubt it, and it will continue to insult a great actor and a great movie with ridiculously wrong information.

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Why so expensive???

Saw this on HBO, I would buy it but the price is crazy. It is just like other hiped obscure movies that were good but not remembered, for instance, "Parrish" with Troy Donahue and Claudette Colbert. People are mad to get the DVD. But there is not one Jennifer Jones movie on Amazon in DVD (She's was a big accadamy award winning star of the 40's and 50's "A Portrat of Jenney" and Hemmingways "An Farewell to Arms" to name a few). Neither are most Barbra Stanwick movies. Cable is creating a demand, but the distributers, and Turner and HBO just don't get young peoples curiosity about these old films, and that they will pay a reasonable amount to own them. When the "Cotton Club" first came out on VHS it was 99.00 dollars. Some idiot bought it for me for christmas. I couldn't and still don't believe that a film you might watch 3 or 4 times can be worth more that 20 dollars. That was 20 years ago and now the DVD is about 20 dollars. Call me psychic !!!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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