Directed by William Wyler
1936/USA
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Repeat viewing
#101 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Sam Dodsworth: Love has got to stop some place short of suicide.
This intelligent drama is one of my favorite movies of any time. I always forget just how much I love it until I see it again.
Sam Dodsworth (Walter Huston) has made a fortune as an automobile tycoon. He retires and his somewhat younger wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) has her heart set on beginning life over on a long European holiday. Sam plunges into playing tourist but Fran is more interested in putting on airs, hobnobbing with people she thinks are “society”, and proving her continued desirability to men. Sam loves Fran dearly but clearly this state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely. When Fran decides to throw in with a young Austrian baron, Sam finds solace with expatriate Edith Cortright (Mary Astor). With Maria Ouspenskaya as the baron’s mother and David Niven and Paul Lukas as two of Fran’s “conquests.”
This is a fairly straightforward domestic drama but it is richly rewarding. There is an undercurrent that explores the differences between manners in the Old and New Worlds, with the New World coming off pretty well for a change. It is also one of the few movies of the Golden Age to explore the breakdown of a long marriage. The acting is all brilliant. I don’t think Ruth Chatterton gets enough credit. Her role is unsympathetic and fairly ridiculous. It must have been difficult to play a deluded woman past her prime but she gave it her all. I don’t think Mary Astor was ever more beautiful than in this picture. I always root for her Edith — she is so smart and sensible. Highly recommended.
Dodsworth was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, and won for Best Art Direction. In 1990, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
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There aren’t enough ways for me to describe how much I love this movie. LOVE. THIS MOVIE. LOVE. It’s so honest in its handling of two separate mid-life crises. We don’t get this type of characterization anymore. Love it.
I love it more the older I get.
This is one of my favorite movies too. I was so surprised to discover it and well, this is one of the reasons I do the List. It is as you say very intelligent and this is really the only golden age film about the breakdown of a marriage. It is a true moment of triumph when Sam tells Fran to sod off. He has found the right one in Edith.
I am about as happy as Edith when I see Sam in the boat sailing up at the end! Wyler had a lot of great directing touches in this movie.
I recently re-watched DODSWORTH after reading Sinclair Lewis. It remains a wonderful, modern film and I highly recommend Lewis as a penetrating critic of the early 20th century. He deserved his status as great American author.
I’ve read BABBIT and MAIN STREET but never DODSWORTH. I will have to give that a try.
I love this film, especially the ending. I kept worrying that Sam would go back to that shallow, deluded wife of his and I would be left unsatisfied. I had not read the book so did not have a preconceived notion of what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised even though any film with Walter Huston is worthwhile.
Glad to see you around these parts! Yes, Walter Huston is always good value.