Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on December 10, 2010 at 08:44:15

or any decade. This Leo McCarey masterpiece has widely been praised by directors such as Ozu, Morris, and Welles. Yet, for all its kudos, it was McCarey's, "The Awful Truth," that won the Oscar that year. He acknowledged that the statue was awarded to the wrong picture.
In the midst of the Great Depression, an elderly couple loses their home and are forced to rely on the kindness of their five children, though none of them are very willing to take them in. The magnificent tandem of Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi, as the parents, elevate this sentimental tale to art. What could have been a melodramatic tearjerker, thanks to the writing of Vina Delmar (credit also, "The Awful Truth"), is a dispassionate, level look at a family under the greatest of stresses. We are not played like violins: McCarey trusts his actors and writer and the characters become individuals, each with both weaknesses and strengths exposed.
THE great American film?
Look no farther.