Amazon.com Essentials:
One of the finest films of the 1930s, this classic Samuel
Goldwyn production was based upon the hit Broadway play written by Sidney
Howard, which had in turn been adapted from the 1929 novel by Sinclair
Lewis. Ahead of its time in dramatizing the disintegration of a
marriage, the story centers on the title character (superbly played by
Walter Huston, who originated his role onstage), a wealthy automobile
manufacturer whose wife (Ruth Chatterton, in her final American film
role) desperately craves an aristocratic lifestyle in
Europe. Dodsworth indulges her fancies to a degree, but their clashing
desires--compounded by her affair with a European baron and his
affection for a sympathetic widow (Mary Astor)--create further tension
and mutual rancor. Dodsworth was perhaps the first Hollywood
drama of the sound era that maturely addressed the complexity of a
failing marriage and impending divorce, made especially compelling
since Dodsworth is such an admirable and upstanding character who
means well and upholds the ideal of marital commitment. Sharply
directed by William Wyler, the film is as relevant today as it was
when released in 1936. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com Essentials:
One of the finest films of the 1930s, this classic Samuel
Goldwyn production was based upon the hit Broadway play written by Sidney
Howard, which had in turn been adapted from the 1929 novel by Sinclair
Lewis. Ahead of its time in dramatizing the disintegration of a
marriage, the story centers on the title character (superbly played by
Walter Huston, who originated his role onstage), a wealthy automobile
manufacturer whose wife (Ruth Chatterton, in her final American film
role) desperately craves an aristocratic lifestyle in
Europe. Dodsworth indulges her fancies to a degree, but their clashing
desires--compounded by her affair with a European baron and his
affection for a sympathetic widow (Mary Astor)--create further tension
and mutual rancor. Dodsworth was perhaps the first Hollywood
drama of the sound era that maturely addressed the complexity of a
failing marriage and impending divorce, made especially compelling
since Dodsworth is such an admirable and upstanding character who
means well and upholds the ideal of marital commitment. Sharply
directed by William Wyler, the film is as relevant today as it was
when released in 1936. --Jeff Shannon
