I'm not an American, so I have very little expirience what happens on the 4th of July and I am sometimes allergic to overly glossy Americana. Was it the case with this film? I was interested in this film because I read that it was the only comedy Eugene O'Neill, the grandmaster of dark but great plays, ever wrote - and also because I had seen some MGM pictures of that time.
Clarence Brown's film is not revolutionary or suspenseful in the way it works, but I found the movie nevertheless a very good one. The movie plays in the 1900s and makes some gags with the things that changed in the past 30 years - obviously a bit the same as watching a movie from today which plays with 1980s nostalgia. But while the movie is a bit nostalgic and melancholic, it never comes across as sugary or false (like a lot of the other MGM family pictures). And that's quite an achievement for Brown, because a small, soft-spoken and gentle story like this can easily be ruined by one false note.
And it's perhaps also an achievement by the actors, because the cast works very well - Eric Linden has to carry most of the film and I only knew him from his small role in "Gone with the Wind", but he works beautifully as the idealistic and bright young student. Obviously, boyish roles were his speciality, but never achieved the transition to more mature roles. The rest of the cast, which includes some famous names, are well-cast and believable in their roles.
Gwenda Young published the book "Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master" as the first full biography about him in 2018. I read the chapter about "Ah, Wilderness" and she ranks it high among his works. Notably, Brown also grew up in the 1900s under somewhat similiar circumstances. For me it feels like Brown burns the days of his youth on the screen - in contrast to O'Neill, who more or less created a counterpoint against his own hellish family life. And O'Neill brings his ironies and dark undertones into it: Is this simple, smalltown life everything one should exspect from life? Also, the visit in the bar and the characters of the unmarried aunt / uncle show how easily a false step in your lifeline can have great consequences. So with both Brown's truthfulness, O'Neill's wisdom and slight irony and great acting performances we have a very beautiful film.
Clarence Brown's film is not revolutionary or suspenseful in the way it works, but I found the movie nevertheless a very good one. The movie plays in the 1900s and makes some gags with the things that changed in the past 30 years - obviously a bit the same as watching a movie from today which plays with 1980s nostalgia. But while the movie is a bit nostalgic and melancholic, it never comes across as sugary or false (like a lot of the other MGM family pictures). And that's quite an achievement for Brown, because a small, soft-spoken and gentle story like this can easily be ruined by one false note.
And it's perhaps also an achievement by the actors, because the cast works very well - Eric Linden has to carry most of the film and I only knew him from his small role in "Gone with the Wind", but he works beautifully as the idealistic and bright young student. Obviously, boyish roles were his speciality, but never achieved the transition to more mature roles. The rest of the cast, which includes some famous names, are well-cast and believable in their roles.
Gwenda Young published the book "Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master" as the first full biography about him in 2018. I read the chapter about "Ah, Wilderness" and she ranks it high among his works. Notably, Brown also grew up in the 1900s under somewhat similiar circumstances. For me it feels like Brown burns the days of his youth on the screen - in contrast to O'Neill, who more or less created a counterpoint against his own hellish family life. And O'Neill brings his ironies and dark undertones into it: Is this simple, smalltown life everything one should exspect from life? Also, the visit in the bar and the characters of the unmarried aunt / uncle show how easily a false step in your lifeline can have great consequences. So with both Brown's truthfulness, O'Neill's wisdom and slight irony and great acting performances we have a very beautiful film.