Dodsworth (1936) - Directed by William Wyler

(Note: This post is in support of the William Wyler Blogathon which is being hosted by The Movie Projector, from June 24-29, where you can find more info and links to other reviews of William Wyler films.)

William Wyler’s masterful Dodsworth is the kind of film that even today rings so truthful. I find it is hard to find films from the 1930’s that reflect observant, realistic portrayals of marriage. Perhaps something like Vigo’s L’Atalante (1934) would be the best contemporary from the era that broaches the subject of marriage with an observant eye. But there’s something so down to earth and devastating about Dodsworth. It’s not trying to be stylized or poetic (like Vigo’s film), or funny (like McCarey’s The Awful Truth). It just patiently observes marital interaction and tendencies, allowing the divide between the male and female to open up before us. There are no easy answers that this film provides for us and THAT is part of what makes the film resonate so well.

Dodsworth stars Walter Huston as Sam Dodsworth, head of a car manufacturing company who is retiring from his position. His post-retirement ambitions include traveling and seeing the world with his wife of 20 years. We follow Dodsworth and his wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) as they travel by boat and begin to meet people who start to alter the course of their happiness. On the boat, Dodsworth meets a woman named Edith (Mary Astor) who without pretense appreciates Dodsworth’s curiosity and hunger for adventure. That same night, his wife Fran meets a man with whom she flirts and kisses. Feeling shame, she cries openly in front of her husband and admits her wrongs. Dodsworth is curiously not worked up about the event. Does he trust her too much? Does he not care? It’s hard to say for sure. He seems to love his wife, but he is also resigned to the fact that she is her own woman. She is obviously flaunting conventions by hanging around with other men and dancing away her evenings and she uses her husband’s trust as a cloak to engage in risky flirting. Soon, though, she flirts beyond her ability to relinquish it and invites a marriage proposal from a Viennese man. The devastating denouement of the film, involving Sam and Fran's separation and a potential reconciliation is handled so truthfully and compassionately, as Dodsworth prepares to move on from his wife by finding solace and companionship in the arms of Edith.

Walter Huston gives one of, if not his best performance of his career as Dodsworth. I am quite partial to his crotchety prospector role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). But in Dodsworth, Huston’s understated performance is so good because he allows us a chance to question his behavior. He does not paint Dodsworth into a corner using broad strokes. He uses smaller facial expressions, changes in tone and dialogue to make us believe he is a complicated man. Perhaps a man that is a bit naïve? Perhaps a man that is blinded by high expectations of himself and his family status? Perhaps he’s a man with secret yearnings never expressed to his wife for fear that he would rock the boat? All of these and none of these may be correct about him. It’s such a well written role and brilliantly acted part that we enjoy the process of following Dodsworth on his path to self-discovery. Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor also give particularly fine turns in this extremely well-acted film.

Yes the film takes some melodramatic turns (and I’m the biggest melodrama fan there is), but Wyler’s assured direction and ability to let a scene play out, perhaps longer than other directors of this era, allows the film to develop a lived-in feel, creating not a bubble of stylized emotions but a realistic examination of people. Wyler seems to find not just the cinematic truth of the moment, but also the underlying human nature behind the moment. It’s not hard to envision how Wyler’s work here connects us to later decades where the likes of Bergman (Scenes From a Marriage), or Cassavetes (A Woman Under the Influence) would take us to more harrowing places. There’s something about Dodsworth though, that is devastating in its own right. As Dodsworth and Edith tentatively realize that they are developing significant feelings for each other, there’s a scene where she realizes that he is going to get a call from his wife. She’s so fearful that he will pick up that phone and that he will be lured back to his old life that she tries to do everything she can to get him away from earshot of that phone. Her failed resignation when she realizes she may lose Dodsworth exemplifies this film's ability to project emotion and create drama through understanding human nature, through understanding people and the way we operate. Dodsworth is the era-defining masterpiece that examines marital discord in the 1930’s. It is still vital today and remains perhaps Wyler’s greatest film.

The Heiress (1949) - Directed by William Wyler

In William Wyler’s astute and pointed masterpiece, The Heiress, we find pleasure in what I would call the art of simplicity. Here we have a film that relies upon the foundation of a great script, solid dramatic acting, observant deep-focus cinematography, and a score that heightens the tension. I had never seen this film before until recently. I was aware of it’s status as a solid dramatic film from the 1940’s, and of Olivia de Havilland’s performance. What I wasn’t so prepared for was how solidly and assuredly the film is put together. Wyler has a great knack here for heightening dramatic effect through the observance of behavior within confined spaces. He essentially made a “chamber drama”, which Bergman in subsequent decades would perfect. Wyler allows the acting to develop through each scene, giving each actor time to create the moments within the scene, without cutting them short.

This film is based on the stageplay from 1947, which was based on the book, Washington Square by Henry James. Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland) is a woman with very little experience in the matter of love or relationships with the opposite sex, but she possesses quite the inheritance from her deceased mother and also which will come from her father, Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson), whom she lives with, along with her Aunt Lavinia (Miriam Hopkins). Catherine is starting to get some wrinkles around her eyes, and is past her prime for getting the attention of men. Her father is possessive of her and critical. Her aunt pressures her to try to meet people. They attend a dance party where Catherine meets a handsome younger man named Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift). He pursues her rather heavily despite her shyness and timidity, soon proposing marriage to her. In the process of Morris asking Dr. Sloper for permission to marry, it’s clear that Dr. Sloper feels that Morris is only out to marry Catherine for her money, and threatens to withhold her inheritance. Catherine feels this is her only chance at marriage. Her father feels she is going to be robbed of her money and true love.

What I find so mesmerizing about the plot, is the fact that we really have no idea what Morris's intentions are. There are certain scenes where I am sure that he’s up to no good, and then there are other scenes where I’m sure that he is nothing but completely sincere in his love for Catherine. Clift plays the role magnificently, keeping us completely in the dark about his motives until we absolutely can’t stand the suspense any longer. His role is the key to making the chamber drama work. He is the one through which the plot engine churns. It’s his subtle nuances that count here most of all. I am also impressed by Olivia de Havilland, who is able to make me believe that she is the naïve, timid woman at the beginning of the film, and also the rather moody and direct woman she is at the end. Ralph Richardson is also terrifically curt, suspicious, and rather spiteful as the Dr., a man with deep-set flaws regarding his perfectionism and greed. Miriam Hopkins also provides a breezy counterpoint in several scenes that is most welcome here.

Deep-focus cinematography by Leo Tover is incredibly engaging and adds to the dramatic tension. I like the way that characters are framed in the classic dramatic triangle, with three people standing at different points within the frame, allowing us to see each one at the same time. Aaron Copland's score is also a tremendous asset to this film as well, adding the underpinnings and exclamation points to key moments. It’s the kind of score that doesn’t call too much attention to itself, but you notice that it’s working well with the film and enhancing it. In thinking about William Wyler’s ability to wring dramatic moments from his actors and focus on the drama of the scene (a la Dodsworth), I find a bit of a kinship with Sidney Lumet, who also got the best from his actors and from a focus on the essential elements of the film, a simplicity if you will. It’s something to think about anyway when we try to categorize Wyler. By any standard, though, The Heiress is one of the great Hollywood pictures of the 1940’s and not to be missed.

Funny Girl (1968) - Directed by William Wyler

William Wyler’s late career musical Funny Girl was also Barbra Streisand’s film debut, and what a debut it was for her. She went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a tie with Katherine Hepburn for The Lion In Winter (1968). Funny Girl recounts the true-life story of Fanny Brice, who went from hamming around NY burlesque stages in the early 1900’s and ended up getting signed by Florenz Ziegfield to headline the Ziegfield Follies in 1910, which was a popular stage show on Broadway. Funny Girl reprises Streisand’s turn as Brice from the Broadway musical, which ran in 1964 and chronicles Fanny’s early successes onstage, her courtship by the wealthy gambler Nick Arnstein, played by Omar Shariff, and Fanny and Nick’s downward spiraling marriage in the latter third of the film as Nick runs into legal troubles. Overall, I was really impressed with the film: it has great songs, an engaging story, and one of the truly great tour-de-force performances by an actress.

Of course, for a musical to be great, there has to be some great songs and musical sequences in the film. For me, the two best ones are  “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”. “People” became one of Streisand’s standard numbers throughout her career and it’s easy to see why. It’s a slow-build kind of song with changes in dynamics that seem to suit Streisand’s powerful tones. In the film, it’s an important transitional moment as she projects her vulnerability to Nick and emphasizes that she has a need for connection. Even more astounding is the sequence for “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as Fanny decides to go after Nick on his cruise to Europe but finds herself late to the boat. This sequence goes down for me as one of the truly great musical sequences in all of cinema. Not only is the song perfect for the moment, but the camera work during this scene is quite astounding. In one segment, a camera, presumably attached to a helicopter is eyeing a moving train. As the camera pulls in close, we find Fanny at a window seat singing the song in-sync. I thought to myself, “They can’t top that”. Oh yes they could! At the finale of the song, we see a tugboat leaving NYC and the camera swings alongside the boat, finding Fanny singing the song in-sync again as the boat speeds along. The camera pulls away leaving a breathtaking view over the water and New York City as Streisand hits the final note. It’s a wow moment.



Streisand has a lot of wow moments in this film though. She simply commands your attention every moment that she is onscreen. She totally gets this Fanny character and it can be seen in everything from the way she uses her New York accent to her Jewish heritage to the singing and comedic moments. One can see that all her work from the Broadway stage on this character paid off dividends in the film. Streisand’s timing is impeccable. I point us to the seduction scene between Nick and Fanny where Streisand continually hits the right jokes at the right moment. She’s delicate, funny and sexy when she needs to be and pulls it off with panache. There are times when you see a performance and you know it’s one of the great ones.  She’s just an incredible talent with her voice, her comedic timing and she wears her emotions on her sleeve in the best way possible. She is truly dynamic and all of this was utilized well by Wyler as he knew that she deserved all the screen time feasible. Streisand seems to connect to the viewer without a camera filtering the performance because of her ability to emote directly to the audience through a true, humble honesty. This feels like a vibrant and totally fresh performance even forty-three years later. Bravo to Streisand.



Although the film is set during the early 1900’s, one can feel the pulse of the 1960’s quite clearly in the outlook that is given to the relationship of Fanny and Nick. Fanny is clearly the breadwinner, bringing in the income, while Nick is up-and-down, making paydays on his gambling and then going long stretches without luck. He is riding on Fanny’s coattails. By the end of the film, we realize that Fanny does not need Nick at all from a financial standpoint and can support herself. Nick can’t handle this fact that the woman is the lead money-maker. One can feel the tugs of the women’s liberation movement in these scenes at the end of the film as she doesn’t need her man in the traditional sense and parts ways with him, singing the Fanny Brice standard, "My Man". It’s an interesting blending of the period setting of the film with a more modern outlook on women in the workplace. I appreciated this nuance and it gave the film some added dimension. One must remember though, that this is a musical, and to me, this a great one. Yeah there are a few lapses in continuity and story-flow toward the end, but I forgive it because it contains too many good songs, too many funny moments, and one brilliant performance. I think that’s in the end why it’s so good. Musicals are often wonderful vehicles for some of the greatest entertainers. Funny Girl is an example of that type of masterpiece, capturing the essence and talent of Barbra Streisand.