USA 1956
This charming, gentle and perfectly crafted William Wyler film ( produced
with older brother Robert ), based on the Jessamyn West novel, revolves around
the activities of a family of Indiana Quakers circa 1860. How the Mother (
Dorothy McGuire ), Father ( Gary Cooper ), son, Josh Birdwell ( Anthony Perkins
) , sister and younger brother deal with their traditional beliefs and way of
life being challenged over the course of a few crucial weeks in their lives is
the crux of this 1957 Palme D'or winning picture (which, to be fair, should have
gone to Fellini's "Nights
of Cabiria").
Wyler subtly captures characterizations and sentimentality with humorous
vignettes following the family through its daily activities. An excursion to the
local fair, exposes the family to dancing, gambling, music, and violence,
attending and traveling to church as well as congenial interaction with
neighbors all substantiate the innocence of both the religious sect and the time
period.
The film’s cinematography translates well to Widescreen DVD and is beautifully
photographed on location with some scenery that elicits awe inspiring pauses and
the over all feeling of Norman Rockwell-like Americana. The countryside
atmosphere is yet another subtle device that helps Wyler establish the
historical aspects of the film.
In an extremely benign and passive way, ( mimicking the Birdwell family
themselves ) the film touches on a number of relevant inter-personal and
political issues such as:
Slavery - the black stable hand must flee for sanctuary from the invaders.
The Civil War - in the films most poignant moments Anthony Perkins, in his only
Academy award nomination, is brilliant as the son, Josh who opposes his family's
"turn the other cheek" philosophy and strives to build the courage he needs to
face and fire his gun at the encroaching guerilla band of Confederates. His
inner turmoil as he wrestles out both the decision and the foreign acts of
violence is one of his greatest performances. This mounting quite resistance is
felt to a lesser degree by the family patriarch, played by Gary Cooper, who is
outstanding as he brings his unique subtlety and nobility to this sensitive
role.
Religion - The various extents that each family member follows the often
stringent edicts of the Quaker religion. It deals with family issues as simple
as the purchase of an organ, and as complex as fighting in the civil war. Their
farm and lifestyle are threatened by Confederate raiders and they make difficult
choices to defend their farm using force or resist the call to arms.
Totally innocent and wholesome on the exterior,
the film does suffer slightly when put under the microscope.
The non-violence pretension seems to be forgotten in many scenes. The violence
at the Fair is stopped with further violence, even the Mother, Eliza's
protection of the family pet brings her to violence. They all believe harming
their fellow man is wrong, but that doesn't stop them to varying degrees. They
never seem to suffer any consequences for their behavior. Dimitri Tiomkin
produced a wonderful soundtrack that extensively helps the atmosphere although
the choice of song and singer ( Pat Boone ) for the opening and closing credits
show glimpses of the formulaic Hollywood machine striving for mediocrity. The
same holds true for the titles, which like the Pat Boone cloying ditties do not
do this grand film justice. Aside from that I give it a strong
out of
Posters
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Theatrical Release: November 25th, 1956
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Warner - Region 1 - NTSC
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| Distribution | Warner Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 2:17:35 | |
| Video | 1.66:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.82 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate: |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, French, None | |
| Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • Featurette
"Wide Wide World" from Nov 27th, 1955 (10:23) |
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| Comments: |
A very strong
image considering this DVD came out in 2000. The major failing seems to
be some ingrained dirt in the negative, which can be removed with a
future restoration. It almost looks like digital noise but I think the
grain is just very prevalent (which I prefer). Colors are excellent and
don't appear manipulated. What is amazing to see is that even back then
Warner was able to anamorphize a 1.66 ratio film that so many (including
recent Criterion) don't seem able to do to this day without cropping to
1.78.
There are some extras which appear to be filler, but the early attempt
with a featurette is a applaud-able effort. There is a French dub
optional and the removable subtitles (English and French) are quite good
but in a fairly small type. I like this DVD and I love this film.
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| Distribution | Warner Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | |
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