The first time I watched this film I only gave it a "6", which for me is below average. Guess I must have been in a bad mood, because after watching it again tonight I had a more favorable opinion of it.
I'm quite strong on plots, and frankly this one doesn't have much of any. Instead, it's a period piece which demonstrates what the life of a minister was like back at the turn of the century and slightly beyond. And the value here is that it's a rather nice depiction of a time in America that no one today experienced. Some of us who were born in a small town back in the 1950s have experienced some things akin to it, but it is good for us to realize that America was not always the fast-paced electronic culture that we are today.
As the brief blurb here on IMDb says: "Episodic look at the life of a minister and his family as they move from one parish to another." The first half of this film is just that -- a bunch of episodes strung together that have little cohesion other than showing what a minister's family experienced at one time in our country. About half way through the film, several plots begin to develop and the film gets more interesting. The Methodist minister (Fredric March) decides he will no longer tolerate the bullies who run his church, and fights them to get a new church and parsonage built. His son is accused of getting a girl pregnant, which turns out to be untrue, and a lie to fight the minister's efforts to build his new church and parsonage. Okay...now we've got more substance, although the pregnancy aspect receives very little screen time.
I have always felt that Fredric March is an excellent actor (as in a "serious actor). He seems very believable here. Martha Scott (here, March's wife) was a durable actress, though her name is not particularly well known. I've enjoyed her performances, and here she provides a very sturdy performance.
There are a number of fine character actors here -- Beulah Bondi (a wonderful actress who has very little screen time, but at least a very different role), Gene Lockhart (who blusters appropriately), Harry Davenport (venerable, as always), and Laura Hope Crews (fresh off her Aunt Pittypat role in "GWTW", but who offers little to the film).
I don't imagine many younger viewers would appreciate this film...too stodgy. I'm glad some of us still appreciate this type of film.
I'm quite strong on plots, and frankly this one doesn't have much of any. Instead, it's a period piece which demonstrates what the life of a minister was like back at the turn of the century and slightly beyond. And the value here is that it's a rather nice depiction of a time in America that no one today experienced. Some of us who were born in a small town back in the 1950s have experienced some things akin to it, but it is good for us to realize that America was not always the fast-paced electronic culture that we are today.
As the brief blurb here on IMDb says: "Episodic look at the life of a minister and his family as they move from one parish to another." The first half of this film is just that -- a bunch of episodes strung together that have little cohesion other than showing what a minister's family experienced at one time in our country. About half way through the film, several plots begin to develop and the film gets more interesting. The Methodist minister (Fredric March) decides he will no longer tolerate the bullies who run his church, and fights them to get a new church and parsonage built. His son is accused of getting a girl pregnant, which turns out to be untrue, and a lie to fight the minister's efforts to build his new church and parsonage. Okay...now we've got more substance, although the pregnancy aspect receives very little screen time.
I have always felt that Fredric March is an excellent actor (as in a "serious actor). He seems very believable here. Martha Scott (here, March's wife) was a durable actress, though her name is not particularly well known. I've enjoyed her performances, and here she provides a very sturdy performance.
There are a number of fine character actors here -- Beulah Bondi (a wonderful actress who has very little screen time, but at least a very different role), Gene Lockhart (who blusters appropriately), Harry Davenport (venerable, as always), and Laura Hope Crews (fresh off her Aunt Pittypat role in "GWTW", but who offers little to the film).
I don't imagine many younger viewers would appreciate this film...too stodgy. I'm glad some of us still appreciate this type of film.