Life with father Ronald Colman must be a blast. Who else can sing the praises of seeing a yellow bellied sap-sucker in November? If this doesn't get him the presidency of the bird watcher's club, then there is no justice. O.K., so there's more to this version of the novel and play than that. It's about coming to terms with the changing of times, no matter how it rocks the cradle of everybody around you. Colman must loosen a button or two on that stuffed shirt of his, and it is very amusing watching him do it.
Richard Ney, the British son in Mrs Miniver, switches nationalities, even if, according to Hollywood, there's little difference where Boston and the London suburbs are concerned. Colman's suave personality add subtlety to his character's snobbery with equally nuanced performances by Richard Haydn and Mildred Natwick as other family members. Director Joseph Mankiewitz gives the film excellent pacing, making sure that every detail is exquisite. Had Colman not given his Oscar winning performance the same year in A Double Life, he certainly would have been considered for this.
Veteran actress Edna Best is quietly noble as the wife, less involved than mother in Life With Father and certainly not as passive aggressive. Peggy Cummins is innocently feisty as the quietly increasing suffragette daughter. Vanessa Brown is sweetly insecure as Haydn's daughter, seemingly forced to marry cousin Ney in a plot development that seems oddly incestuous. While the Boston of this era disappeared with high button shoes, it is a sweet reminder of the age of manners which didn't quite hide the class system but also made fun of the phoniness.
Richard Ney, the British son in Mrs Miniver, switches nationalities, even if, according to Hollywood, there's little difference where Boston and the London suburbs are concerned. Colman's suave personality add subtlety to his character's snobbery with equally nuanced performances by Richard Haydn and Mildred Natwick as other family members. Director Joseph Mankiewitz gives the film excellent pacing, making sure that every detail is exquisite. Had Colman not given his Oscar winning performance the same year in A Double Life, he certainly would have been considered for this.
Veteran actress Edna Best is quietly noble as the wife, less involved than mother in Life With Father and certainly not as passive aggressive. Peggy Cummins is innocently feisty as the quietly increasing suffragette daughter. Vanessa Brown is sweetly insecure as Haydn's daughter, seemingly forced to marry cousin Ney in a plot development that seems oddly incestuous. While the Boston of this era disappeared with high button shoes, it is a sweet reminder of the age of manners which didn't quite hide the class system but also made fun of the phoniness.