Dedicated to Edna Gladney. Copyright 2 July 1941 by Loew's Inc. Presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. A Mervyn LeRoy production. New York opening at Radio City Music Hall: 26 May 1941. U.S. release: 25 July 1941. Australian release: 24 December 1941. 10 reels. 8,947 feet. 99 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Public-spirited woman campaigns to have birth registration records amended so that the legitimacy (or otherwise) of children is not recorded.
NOTES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Annual Award for Art Direction in color was shared by Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary and Edwin B. Willis (defeating Blood and Sand, and Louisiana Purchase) . Also nominated for Best Picture (How Green Was My Valley), Best Actress, Greer Garson (Joan Fontaine in Suspicion), and Color Cinematography (Blood and Sand).
Number 10 in the annual Film Daily poll of U.S. film critics.
COMMENT: This first of the nine movies Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon made together hardly augured well for Mr. Pidgeon's future career. Not only is his name half the size of Miss Garson's on the film's credits, but his role is rather small. His character dies half-way through, leaving all the dramatic running to the oddly popular Garson. (I can understand that the actress' "grand manners" and air of patronizing refinement could make her popular in some feminine quarters, but I always found her artificial and - if given her head - cloying. She was well cast in Mr Chips and Pride and Prejudice where her roles called for brittle snobbery).
The script has an unfortunate habit of telegraphing its punches well ahead, enabling Greer to glide with ease from one domestic crisis to another. Nonetheless, the drama does come across effectively in some of its key scenes, particularly the address to the Texas Senate (with which scene the film ought to have closed. Instead it drags on for another 20 minutes or so, lovingly tying up a tedious sub-plot about a nursed-back-to-health crippled boy). Partly this is due to the excellent mounting (photography, sets, costumes) and production values MGM have poured into the picture, but mostly to the quality of the support cast.
With the exceptions of Felix Bressart, Clinton Rosemond and Theresa Harris (who seem to be reveling in their ridiculously stereotyped roles), all the support players give interesting, if not fascinating performances. Most of the other roles are brief - limited to one or two scenes - but those players make their mark. One must be singled out for special praise: Marsha Hunt who overcomes a lack of depth in the writing to give Charlotte an appealingly tragic dignity.
LeRoy's direction is competently bland, while other technical credits (especially the costumes and photography - Miss Garson makes a stunning first appearance in a blue costume and picture hat) are highly professional. The only exception is Stothart's unbelievably heavy-handed music scoring with its consistently "Mickey-Mouse" use of "appropriate" tunes like "Two Little Girls In Blue" and "Deep In the Heart of Texas".
SYNOPSIS: Public-spirited woman campaigns to have birth registration records amended so that the legitimacy (or otherwise) of children is not recorded.
NOTES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Annual Award for Art Direction in color was shared by Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary and Edwin B. Willis (defeating Blood and Sand, and Louisiana Purchase) . Also nominated for Best Picture (How Green Was My Valley), Best Actress, Greer Garson (Joan Fontaine in Suspicion), and Color Cinematography (Blood and Sand).
Number 10 in the annual Film Daily poll of U.S. film critics.
COMMENT: This first of the nine movies Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon made together hardly augured well for Mr. Pidgeon's future career. Not only is his name half the size of Miss Garson's on the film's credits, but his role is rather small. His character dies half-way through, leaving all the dramatic running to the oddly popular Garson. (I can understand that the actress' "grand manners" and air of patronizing refinement could make her popular in some feminine quarters, but I always found her artificial and - if given her head - cloying. She was well cast in Mr Chips and Pride and Prejudice where her roles called for brittle snobbery).
The script has an unfortunate habit of telegraphing its punches well ahead, enabling Greer to glide with ease from one domestic crisis to another. Nonetheless, the drama does come across effectively in some of its key scenes, particularly the address to the Texas Senate (with which scene the film ought to have closed. Instead it drags on for another 20 minutes or so, lovingly tying up a tedious sub-plot about a nursed-back-to-health crippled boy). Partly this is due to the excellent mounting (photography, sets, costumes) and production values MGM have poured into the picture, but mostly to the quality of the support cast.
With the exceptions of Felix Bressart, Clinton Rosemond and Theresa Harris (who seem to be reveling in their ridiculously stereotyped roles), all the support players give interesting, if not fascinating performances. Most of the other roles are brief - limited to one or two scenes - but those players make their mark. One must be singled out for special praise: Marsha Hunt who overcomes a lack of depth in the writing to give Charlotte an appealingly tragic dignity.
LeRoy's direction is competently bland, while other technical credits (especially the costumes and photography - Miss Garson makes a stunning first appearance in a blue costume and picture hat) are highly professional. The only exception is Stothart's unbelievably heavy-handed music scoring with its consistently "Mickey-Mouse" use of "appropriate" tunes like "Two Little Girls In Blue" and "Deep In the Heart of Texas".