Only three things need be said about this exquisite film. Orson Welles said it could make a stone cry. Jean Renoir said that it proved that McCarey was one of the few directors who really understood people. Finally, Robin Wood-gay Marxist atheist- praised it as one of the few good films about old people.( The only other ones I can think of are Scorsese's short documentary about his parents, and- strange to say- Lynch's forthcoming film about the old fellow who drove a John Deere tractor 275 miles to visit his dying brother.) Wood also praised its Marxist critique of the capitalist system. However, its not so much "Marxist' as it is rooted in the best traditions of Catholic socialism, traditions that, judging by some of his later films, McCarey may not have fully understood. P.S. I just thought of two other fairly good films about the aged-Wrestling Ernest Hemingway and The Whales of August.
Review of Make Way for Tomorrow
