Dodsworth (1936)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Sinclair Lewis (novel)
Sidney Howard (dramatisation)

Release Date:

23 September 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A bittersweet tale of the increasing estrangement of a retired automobile tycoon and his wife. Increasingly...

Plot Keywords:

Vacation | Aging | Affair | Socialite | Reconciliation

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Walter Huston	...	Sam Dodsworth
Ruth Chatterton	...	Fran Dodsworth
Paul Lukas	...	Arnold Iselin
Mary Astor	...	Mrs. Edith Cortright
Kathryn Marlowe	...	Emily Dodsworth McKee
David Niven	...	Capt. Clyde Lockert
Gregory Gaye	...	Baron Kurt Von Obersdorf
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Baroness Von Obersdorf (as Mme. Maria Ouspenskaya)
Odette Myrtil	...	Renée De Penable
John Payne	...	Harry McKee (as John Howard Payne)
Spring Byington	...	Matey Pearson
Harlan Briggs	...	Tubby Pearson

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2603) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

The play opened on Broadway on 24 February 1934 and had 315 performances. Walter Huston, Harlan Briggs and Charles Halton reprised their stage roles in the film, but Halton's footage was cut from the final print. Also in the opening-night cast were Fay Bainter as Fran Dodsworth, Hal K. Dawson, Beatrice Maude (also in the film), Ivan Miller, Kent Smith, Ninetta Sunderland (Huston's real-life wife) and Frederick Worlock.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Secretary: [offscreen] Mr. Dodsworth?
Sam Dodsworth: Yes.
Secretary: The men are ready.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

Rule Britannia

Show me an actor of Walter Huston's caliber working today.

"Dodsworth" has been on my short list of must-see films for decades, and I finally had my chance to see it last night. I'm still in awe. (Others have made cogent observations about the acting of the other principals in the cast, so I will confine my comments specifically to Walter Huston.) There are people who will complain that this film is "slow," that it is "boring," that "nothing ever happens in it." Too bad for them, because this is a master class in acting of the highest order.

It is difficult to pull off a film like "Dodsworth" without betraying its stage origins, but this one feels and moves like a movie, not a play. (Of course, its genesis is a lengthy Sinclair Lewis novel, but the contributions of the gifted Sidney Howard -- who adapted the novel for the stage and the screen -- cannot be overlooked.) Walter Huston, who also played Sam Dodsworth in the Broadway play, was that rarest of actors, equally adept at playing to the back row of the balcony and giving a quiet wink to another 20-foot-tall face on a movie screen.

Anyone can buff up and wield a sword or tumble from a parking garage after being shot eleven times. But it takes a truly gifted screen actor to make the mundane seem utterly real; to shade a line just so, to achieve perfect pitch with every gesture, every glance. Huston was just such an actor, who, if he is remembered at all today it as John Huston's father, or the "old guy" in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." Too bad again, because Huston was one of the finest actors in the history of American movies. He was not a movie star, but he totally embodied every role he ever played, and never gave a poor performance.

The narrative of "Dodsworth" is mature, intelligently handled material. It is impeccably directed by William Wyler. No one has ever remade it, though remakes have been considered. There are directors working today who could handle "Dodsworth," but it really merits more sophisticated treatment than the extensive nudity and profusion of strong language that would inevitably be written into a new script. It's much better left alone, and it deserves a far larger audience than it has ever had in the 68 years since its release.