The Human Comedy (1943)

The Human Comedy
Directed by Clarence Brown
Written by Howard Eastabrook from the story by William Saroyan
1943/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Amazon Instant Video

Mr. Macauley: I am Matthew Macauley. I have been dead for two years. So much of me is still living that I know now the end is only the beginning. As I look down on my homeland of Ithaca, California, with its cactus, vineyards and orchards, I see that so much of me is still living there – in the places I’ve been, in the fields and streets and church and most of all in my home, where my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions still live in the daily life of my loved ones.

MGM’s faith-based, patriotic take on small-town America during World War II was not for me.

The people of Icatha, California are the kind that burst out into hymns at random intervals just to cheer themselves up.  The story is narrated from the grave by the deceased father (Ray Collins) who watches over one such family.  Homer McCauley (Mickey Rooney) is the man of the house since his father died and elder brother Marcus (Van Johnson) went off to the army.  He supports his mother (Faye Bainter), sister (Donna Reed) and little brother Ulysses by delivering telegrams.  Mrs. McCauley is handy with poetic wisdom and calls to faith at all times.  She plays the harp.

Homer idolizes his boss at the office (James Craig) and befriends the kindly old drunkard telegraph operator (Frank Morgan).  Homer witnesses much heartache and happiness delivering telegrams.

Marcus befriends fellow-soldier Tobey, an orphan.  He makes Icatha and his family sound so appealing that Tobey decides to adopt them as his own.  The story continues on, mixing triumph and tragedy.  With Robert Mitchum in a very early uncredited role as a soldier.

There is nothing really wrong with this Oscar-nominated picture.  It just has not aged at all well.  MGM decided to do Our Town one better and this was the result.  It is a motherhood and apple pie kind of movie and probably resonated with war-time audiences, although I suspect that it was old-fashioned even at the time.  Rooney does quite well. We have seen this performance before, but he plays it with some subtlety and does not succumb to the mugging which characterizes his work in comedies.

I get that this is a fable and idealized version of a small-town (witness all the references to The Odyssey) but it was all much too much for me.

William Saroyan won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story.  The Human Comedy was also nominated in the following categories:  Best Picture; Best Actor (Rooney); Best Director; and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Harry Stradling, Jr.)

Collection of scenes featuring the uncredited Robert Mitchum as a GI.