NFR Project: 'Dodsworth' (1936)

 

NFR Project: ‘Dodsworth’

Dir: William Wyler

Scr: Sidney Howard

Pho: Rudolph Mate

Ed: Daniel Mandell

Premiere: Sept. 23, 1936

101 min.

This is an admirable example of the all-too-rare adult drama. There are no explosions, or chases, or gimmicks, just people relating. It requires a measure of maturity to appreciate, and as a result could never be made today.

Director William Wyler earned his first of 12 Oscar nominations with this film. He was devoted to detail, and was kown for getting the most of out his actors. Here he helps his cast negotiate complex and subtle states of mind, in a straightforward, transparent manner that lets us see into the characters as they change and develop.

The movie is adapted from the play by Sidney Howard, which itself was based on Sinclair Lewis’s 1929 novel. It concerns the middle-aged, wealthy industrialist, Sam Dodsworth (the great Walter Huston, father of John and grandfather of Anjelica), who decides to retire and travel in Europe. His wife, Fran (Ruth Chatterton, in a lacerating performance) is a snob and social climber, although Sam fittingly describes the two of them as “hicks.”

This is the story of a marriage coming apart. Fran starts a shipboard romance with another man (David Niven) that is rapidly crushed, but it serves as a presentiment of what the rest of the movie will entail. In Europe, Fran hobnobs with the titled and wealthy while Sam checks out the local monuments. Soon Fran is hanging out with another wealthy man, and it’s obvious that she’s being unfaithful to her husband.

Sam, being the hero, is as patient as Job with Fran and her willfulness. Time and time again he forgives her and tries to give the marriage another try. However, Fran remains socially ambitious, and terrified of getting old. Her attempts to travel with a younger man turns to talk of divorce and remarriage. However, in her very first film appearance the tiny but formidable Maria Ouspenskaya plays the young man’s mother, who quashes Fran’s plans bluntly.

Meanwhile, Sam is striking up an acquaintance with an expatriate widow, Edith (Mary Astor) who’s everything Fran is not – compassionate, thoughtful, loving. It takes more selfish behavior by Fran to drive Sam back into Edith’s happy arms.

Here the drama is all in the dialogue. Everything is developed through exchanges that are tense, fraught with unspoken anger and sorrow. Ruth Chatterton’s portrayal of Fran is complicated – she’s clearly the villain of the piece, but Chatterton injects her with desperation and sadness, making a her vulnerable and not just a stereotype. Huston’s performance as a typical American man is pitched perfectly.

Dodsworth liberates himself from a toxic relationship, and rediscovers his desire to work and be a part of the larger world. With Edith, he finds a partner to accompany him on his next big adventure.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Flash Gordon.