Blossoms in the Dust
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Anita Loos and Robert Wainwright
1941/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Warner Archive DVD
[box] Edna: There are no illegitimate children. There are only illegitimate parents![/box]
I thought this well-made biopic was just OK.
The story is a dramatization of the work of Edna Gladney (Greer Garson) who ran an orphanage in Texas and pressed for repeal of laws including the designation “ïllegitimate” on birth certificates.
As the story opens, we meet Edna (Greer Garson) and her adopted sister (?) Charlotte as they happily discuss their impending weddings. But Edna met a rude young man at the bank. The man, Sam Gadney (Walter Pidgeon) took one look at her and told her she would be his wife. He crashes the girls’ engagement party and tells Edna to see him off at the station from where he is returning to Texas the next day.
When Charlotte’s prospective in-laws discover that she was a nameless “foundling”, they call off the wedding. Charlotte is so distraught she kills herself. Charlotte’s death seems to torpedo Edna’s wedding as well and after some correspondence she marries Sam. At the birth of her son, she learns she can no longer have children. She eventually mends her breaking heart by starting an orphanage and honors Charlotte by campaigning to reform the law on illegitimacy. With Felix Bressart as a kindly doctor.
There is nothing exactly wrong with this movie and Garson is always charming. It didn’t grab me, however.
This was the first of eight pairings of Garson and Pidgeon.
Blossoms in the Dust won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color and was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress (Garson), and Best Color Cinematography.
Trailer
