William Wyler Cinematically Rises with the Incisive Dodsworth

 

                In an era overseen by the almighty Production Code, wherein few major studio films were given the chance to address adult themes in direct fashion, Samuel Goldwyn’s thought-provoking 1936 production of Dodsworth, a class adaptation of the Sidney Howard play (with screenplay by Howard, based on the Sinclair Lewis 1929 novel), does a remarkably straightforward job of depicting the middle-age marital woes and infidelities of an affluent couple. Centered around the titular characters of Sam and Fran Dodsworth and the complications that arise as down-to-earth business magnate Sam retires and seeks to travel the world with the more flighty and sexually adventurous Fran, the absorbing drama examines their taut relationship and interactions with others who enter their world in a frank, arresting manner. Helmed by William Wyler at his most inspired and featuring an established cast doing top-flight work across the board, Dodsworth is enacted and lensed with a skill and perceptiveness that allows the movie to endure as an honest, inciteful portrayal of marriage (and lives) at a crossroads.

In a banner year that witnessed his rise to the top of the Hollywood directional pack with his helming of the stellar These Three, Come and Get it and Dodsworth, William Wyler demonstrated his gifts as a director of rare discernment, specifically in his talent for working with actors to gain complex, sensitive performances. This trait serves him particularly well in Dodsworth, as the story’s characters, particularly title character and his wife, possess multi-faceted personas that need careful handling by both director and his stars to bring the roles off with believable clarity. Wyler, showing an attention-to-detail and subtleness that were hallmarks of his filmography, enables his cast to give deft shadings to their telling portrayals resonating with truth. Both Wyler and screenwriter Howard clearly trust audiences to form their own opinions while interpreting the story’s themes and actions of the characters, granting an intelligence to the depictions on view that help lend a modern tone to the film nearly ninety years after its release. Following Dodsworth, Wyler would reap one of the most notable runs in films, with a record twelve Academy Award nominations for Best Director and three wins, building a roster that includes such classics as Wuthering Heights, The Letter, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Heiress, Roman Holiday and Ben Hur, among many others.

Walter Huston, sublimely recreating his Broadway triumph as Sam Dodsworth, gives a tour de force performance that captures every mood of the complicated tycoon, from his boyish enthusiasm over the simple pleasures in life, such as seeing the lighthouse rays from afar while on ship, to his tough demeanor when confronting Fran over her elitist and reckless behavior, to his forlornness over the possibility of a life without Fran. Huston plays a range of emotions with earnestness and imposing skill, from lighter moments wherein Sam shows excitement over setting out to discover new horizons, people and business opportunities, to deeply felt heartbreak Sam encounters when unexpected hindrances cause rifts in his marriage. Huston illustrates both the good fortunes and plights of a thoroughly decent man with moving empathy, causing a viewer to root for the noble, deserving Dodsworth to achieve a fulfilling life, with or without Fran. With this major screen accomplishment, Huston would become one of the most highly acclaimed and sought-after actors in film until his death in 1950, with four Oscar nominations, including a win for his unforgettable work as the sage prospector in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by his son John.

Ruth Chatterton, in her most memorable role after previously triumphing on stage, then on screen as a leading star of the early Talkies period, with Oscar nominations for Madame X and Sarah and Son, also offers a masterful portrait as the coquettish, restless and pretentious Mrs. Dodsworth, who’s terrified of aging and appears willing to do everything she can to escape a life of small-town domesticated bliss with Sam in favor of adopting a frivolous, jet set lifestyle. It’s a tricky, highly unsympathetic role, but Chatterton clearly understands the many conflicting emotions driving Fran, vividly illustrating such character aspects as her love for and petulance towards Sam, an ever-burgeoning need for grasping the passion she’s missed, and her guilt for diving into a cosmopolitan lifestyle at Sam’s expense. Chatterton admirably holds nothing back in vividly delineating the egocentric Fran’s often selfish mindset, as she demonstrates her unwillingness to compromise her lofty attitude and fickle behavior to work with Sam on their future. She also exhibits Fran’s fears about losing her youth with a deft forthrightness that at least allows the audience to understand some of the insecurities behind her maddeningly erratic behavior. Following her indelible work as Fran, Chatterton’s career onscreen would abruptly end in 1938 after just two more movies, before she would move on to become a novelist, while also occasionally making appearances on television, including recreating her signature work as Fran in 1950 on Prudential Family Playhouse.

Mary Astor witnessed an important turning point in her career with her mature, insightful work as Edith Cortright, a traveling socialite who takes an interest in Sam. Exuding grace, dignity and a maturity well beyond her years, but suitable for the worldly-wise character, Astor creates in Edith a figure of great warmth and strength, in direct contrast to the self-centered, insecure Fran. Her calm, sage and compassionate demeanor is transfixing to watch, establishing Edith as the true heroine of the film from her first appearance. The simple economy found in Astor’s straightforward playing also result in one of the movie’s key exchanges, as Edith departs a dinner party with the Dodsworths and, encountering Fran preparing for a transgression with a lothario, throws a knowing and helpful “Don’t” Fran’s way as she exits. The timing of Dodsworth was fortuitous, as the glowing reviews for Astor immediately followed a scandalous custody battle between Astor and her ex-husband, and proved her onscreen popularity, which had started in the silent era during her teen years, was undiminished, leading to a big upswing in the quality of movies Astor was offered thereafter, with subsequent years bringing such sterling entertainments as The Hurricane, Midnight, The Palm Beach Story, Meet Me in St. Louis, a fitting swansong in 1964 via Hush. . .Hush, Sweet Charlotte and her 1941 career peak, with her pitch-perfect work as one of Noir’s earliest and most duplicitous femme fatales in The Maltese Falcon and an Oscar for going toe-to-toe with Bette Davis in The Great Lie.

As Fran’s chief paramour, Paul Lukas is casually urbane while putting the moves on a willing Fran in direct fashion. As Fran’s first possible Casanova on board the Europe-bound voyage, the young David Niven is also cool and collected, making the most of a great moment wherein he tells Fran exactly what he thinks of her coy behavior. Gregory Gaye nicely illustrates a more caring nature as Kurt Von Obersdorf, yet another on Fran’s list of handsome prospects, while as Kurt’s sage, domineering mother, the revered stage star and acting teacher Maria Ouspenskaya makes a forceful screen debut, capturing the audience’s complete attention with her steely glaze and regal air as she sums up Fran’s makeup in a brief, all-knowing manner. Spring Byington also scores as a sympathetic friend of Sam’s who lends him an ear at a critical juncture, while ingenue Kathryn Marlowe adds the appropriate freshness to her role as the Dodsworth’s daughter, Emily. Finally, in his film debut as Emily’s well-meaning husband Harry, John Payne is boyishly charming and so gorgeous that the top career he soon obtained at 20^th Century Fox and beyond as a prime leading man seems inevitable, based on his short but stunning Dodsworth appearance.

                Upon release in September of 1936, Dodsworth received an enthusiast reception from both general moviegoers and the critical sector, with the film placing among the top hits of 1936/37 (according to Variety) while gaining abundant praise for its savvy study of adult relationships. Among hosannas, the film place on the New York Times Ten Best list for the year, and Huston won a well-merited Best Actor prize from the New York Film Critics. At the Academy Awards, Dodsworth reaped seven nominations, including ones for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress (Ouspenskaya, setting the standard for one-scene wonders at the Oscars), Screenplay (but alas, nothing for Chatterton or Astor) and a win for Best Art Direction, to gain one of the most impressive dramas from classic Hollywood its rightful status as an Academy Award-winning film. More recent honors include placement on the National Film Registry’s 1990 list, and no less than the late, esteemed TCM host Robert Osborne selecting the movie as his all-time favorite. Film buffs looking for a classic that deals with grown-up issues without pretense or pandering should delve into following the Dodsworths as they traverse through parts unknown, both geographically and in a more personal, internal manner, in the process reassessing their own purpose and desires for an enticing and thought-provoking watch.