TWO ON THE AISLE – Our Town
November 11th, 2016
'Our Town,' a Beautiful and Tender Picture
Movie critic Bosley Crowther of the NY Times
Published: June 14, 1940
There is reason to take hope this morning, to find renewed faith and
confidence in mankind——and, incidentally, in the artistry of the
screen. For the film version of Thornton Wilder's prize-winning play,
"Our Town," opened yesterday at the Music Hall, and a more tonic and
reassuring avowal of the nobility which resides in just plain folks
has not come this way in longer than we care to recall.
Mr. Wilder's play, which opened on Broadway in the Winter of 1938, was
a profoundly affecting drama, almost too sharply poignant in its
exposure of human joy and grief for endurance. Gently, it lay bare the
human heart. As a play it was done without scenery, thus evoking the
most fragile imagery. In this movie version, all is realistic in
typical Hollywood style, complete with settings inside and around the
town itself. And now that Producer Sol Lesser has had the insight to
put it onto film — almost scene for scene and word for word — a finer
original screen play could scarcely have been written.
This is not an ordinary picture, not a straight-away plotted-story
film. This is a picture which uses the fullest prerogatives of the
camera to participate as a witness to a simple dramatic account of
people you learn to care about.
On the stage was a character, known as the stage manager, who
conducted the action of the play; on the screen, a small-town druggist
acts as guide and narrator on a leisurely tour of a little New
Hampshire town. He introduces characters who speak directly to the
camera (to us actually) and he takes time out to make incidental
remarks himself. Once he places his hand before the lens to stop a
sequence and introduce another. The camera thus becomes animate, not
just a recording machine - an exciting technique, daringly used to
broaden the scope of the screen tremendously.
The story of "Our Town," of course, is quite simple - the story of
several people living in Grovers Corner. N. H., during the early years
of this century. And chiefly it is the story of a boy and girl
(children of neighboring parents), who fall in love, get married and
have a child.
We are permitted to see these people in their entirety: In their
normal daily tasks, we hear the thoughts which run through their minds
and, at the end, we behold the dream of death and survival of the soul
which is dreamed by the girl who is soon to become a mother. It is, in
short, a comprehensive penetration of the hearts of these good people,
an external glance at the toils and humors of their humdrum lives.
Not enough can be said for the producing the picture in this fashion,
nor enough for the excellent contributions of every one involved.
Frank Craven as the druggist and narrator is the perfect New England
Socrates—honest, sincere and profound. Martha Scott, as the young
girl, is lovely and vibrant with emotion, and William Holden plays the
boy with a clean and refreshing youthfulness. Excellent projections of
small-town characters are given by Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell, Fay
Bainter, Guy Kibbee, Stuart Erwin and a host of other folks. And
director Sam Wood has caught all the flavor of small town life with
exciting visual elaborations. Likewise the score by Aaron Copland
offers a subtle tonal response to the varying moods.
We hesitate to employ superlatives, but of "Our Town" the least we can
say is that it captures on film the simple beauties and truths of
humble folks as very few pictures ever do: it is rich and ennobling in
its plain philosophy—and it gives one a passionate desire to enjoy the
fullness of life even as it did in those good old days.
Sponsored by
Keweenaw Community
Foundation
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Cuisine by
Kangas Café’ & Catering
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