Our Town (1940)

Our Town
Directed by Sam Wood
Written by Thornton Wilder, Frank Craven and Harry Chandlee from the play by Thornton Wilder
1940/USA
Sol Lesser Productions
First viewing/Streaming on Netflix Watch Instantly

[box] Mrs. Julia Hersey Gibbs: It seems to me, once in your life, before you die, you ought to see a country where they don’t speak any English and they don’t even want to.[/box]

I’m glad I finally caught up with this one.

A narrator (Frank Craven) gives a detached episodic view of everyday life in the small New Hampshire town of Grovers Corners at the turn of the 20th Century.  Along with telling us about the place, his story focuses on two neighboring families – the Gibbses and the Webbs and their teenage children George Gibbs (William Holden) and Emily Webb (Martha Scott).  Birth, death, work, love, and marriage are all part of the story and, toward the end, take on a universal and even mystical significance.  The film stays close to the play until the very jarring “Wizard of Oz” ending that was tacked on so audiences could, presumably, walk out of the theater happy.  Although this was authorized by Wilder, it really didn’t work very well since it seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  With Thomas Mitchell and  Faye Bainter as Mr. and Mrs. Gibb and Guy Kibbee and Beulah Bondi as Mr. and Mrs. Webb.

I liked this a lot.  I wonder why Martha Scott did not work more in Hollywood.  She is absolutely luminous in this film.  Although the story may strike some as overly nostalgic or trite, the film is well worth seeing just for the acting and the production values including the fabulous score.  I guess I am its intended audience since I cried right on cue. Recommended.

Our Town was nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture; Best Actress; Best Black-and-White Art Direction; Best Score (Aaron Copland) and Best Original Score (Aaron Copland).

Fan Trailer