Ah, Wilderness! (film)
| Ah, Wilderness! | |
|---|---|
Film poster | |
| Directed by | Clarence Brown |
| Screenplay by | Albert Hackett Frances Goodrich |
| Based on | Ah, Wilderness! 1933 play by Eugene O'Neill |
| Produced by | Clarence Brown Hunt Stromberg |
| Starring | Wallace Beery Lionel Barrymore Aline MacMahon Eric Linden |
| Cinematography | Clyde De Vinna |
| Edited by | Frank E. Hull |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart Edward Ward |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's Inc.[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Ah, Wilderness! is a 1935 American comedy-drama film adaptation of the 1933 Eugene O'Neill play of the same name. Directed by Clarence Brown, the film stars Wallace Beery and features Lionel Barrymore, Eric Linden, Cecilia Parker, Spring Byington and a young Mickey Rooney. The film was remade as Summer Holiday in 1948, with Rooney in the role played by Linden in Ah, Wilderness!.
The film's title is taken from a quatrain in the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam.[2]
Plot
In June 1906 in a New England town. 17-year-old Richard Miller is soon to graduate high school and attend Yale. He already feels worldly wise, having read Shaw, Wilde, the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Swinburne and Marxist tracts. He adores the neighborhood girl Muriel McComber, but she is afraid of being kissed.
Richard's father, newspaper editor Nat Miller, is a kind, wise man. Richard has three siblings: older brother Arthur home from Yale, sister Mildred and Tommy, the youngest. Uncle Sid and Cousin Lily live with the family. Sid, a drunk, repeatedly proposes marriage to Lily, but she refuses. Sid travels to his new job in Waterbury.
At graduation, Richard drops his valedictory speech and Nat reads it, turning a burst of applause into a final acclamation and forestalling Richard's planned Marxist call to arms. On the morning of Independence Day, the street explodes in fireworks. The fired Uncle Sid reappears but says that he has the day off. Lily hints that she would accept a proposal now, but Sid does not propose and Lily is hurt.
Muriel's father angrily accuses Richard of corrupting his daughter's morals. He gives Nat the letters and a farewell letter from Muriel before threatening to pull his advertising. Nat is concerned, but Richard reassures him that he plans to marry Muriel. When Richard reads the letter, he is heartbroken. Arthur's friend Wint asks Richard to accompany him on a double date.
The family reassembles at dinner, but Sid, who has regained his old job at Nat's newspaper, is drunk again and can barely stand. His antics elicit laughter, but Lily scolds the family for encouraging his behavior. Richard blames women for driving men to drink and leaves to meet Wint.
In a hotel bar, Wint has disappeared and Richard is sitting with a girl named Belle, who signals to the bartender to slip something into Richard's sloe gin fizz. Richard returns home drunk and miserable. The next evening, Muriel explains to Richard that her father forced her to write the letter. Nat and Richard have a serious talk about good and bad women.
Cast
- Wallace Beery as Sidney Miller
- Lionel Barrymore as Nat Miller
- Aline MacMahon as Lily Davis
- Eric Linden as Richard "Dick" Miller
- Cecilia Parker as Muriel McComber
- Spring Byington as Essie Miller
- Mickey Rooney as Tommy Miller
- Charley Grapewin as Mr. Dave MacComber
- Frank Albertson as Arthur Miller
- Edward J. Nugent as Wint Selby
- Bonita Granville as Mildred Miller
- Helen Flint as Belle
- Helen Freeman as Miss Hawley
- Tom Dugan as George (uncredited)
- Eily Malyon as Norah (uncredited)
- Edward LeSaint as Minister (uncredited)
Production
As Robert Benchley had been expected to play the role of Sid, the casting of Wallace Beery in August 1935 was a surprise announcement.[3] Lewis Stone was considered for the role of Nat. William Henry and William Janney, who played the role in the stage production, were considered for the role of Richard.[4]
Ah, Wilderness! was partially shot on location in Grafton, Massachusetts,[5] where director Clarence Brown encountered trouble with several local unions who objected to the employment of nonunion electricians, carpenters and musicians. Despite the union agitation, Grafton was flooded with visitors and police guarded the bandstand to prevent souvenir hunters from removing pieces of it.[6]
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Andre Sennwald wrote: "In its warm, sprawling and achingly reminiscent mood of story-telling, It brings Mr. O'Neill's 'large small-town' in the New England of 1906 into a new richness of lite on the screen. As an American comedy of manners and as a portrait of an American family, 'Ah, Wilderness!' explores a vein of bitter-sweet nostalgia without losing its sense or humor. ... 'Ah, Wilderness!' reviews our yesterdays with tenderness, mature understanding and laughter that contains a hint of tears."[7]
See also
References
- ^ Ah, Wilderness! at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- ^ "Clarence Brown Tells Meaning of "Ah, Wilderness"". Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1935. p. 3, Part II.
- ^ Schallert, Edwin (August 6, 1935). "Wallace Beery Awarded Important Role of Uncle Sid in "Ah Wilderness"". Los Angeles Times. p. 19.
- ^ Schallert, Edwin (January 10, 1935). "Popularity of Tarzan Movies Results in Deluge of Ape-Man Hero Stories". Los Angeles Times. p. 19.
- ^ Motion Picture Daily. New York: Motion Picture Daily, Inc. August 26, 1935. p. 22.
- ^ "Theater Unions Harass "Ah, Wilderness" Film". Los Angeles Times. August 12, 1935. p. 10.
- ^ Sennwald, Andre (December 25, 1935). "The Screen". The New York Times. p. 30.
External links
- Ah, Wilderness! at IMDb
- Ah, Wilderness! at the TCM Movie Database (archived version)
- Ah, Wilderness! at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films