It's Greer Garson up against some prune faced old bats who use their own judgments of what they believe is morally right and a feeling about infants that is obviously so wrong. Garson takes on the courts of Texas to have the word "illegitimate" removed from the records of foundlings she seeks to find homes for.
It's up to the individual viewer to judge the facts vs. what is presented in one of MGM's biggest hits of the early 1940's. As the first of many teamings of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. She's a real life innovator of the adoption system, but evidence has arisen that this is a semi- fictional account of her life. But in spite of all that she really did. It's up to Garson to prove that old cliché that there is no such thing as illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents.
Garson got a well deserved second Oscar nomination for this, mainly because of her court appearance where she utters those immortal words, rather controversial for a movie made at the height of the Hays code. The typical MGM gloss is added, along with a ton of sentiment through cute babies and adorable adolescents. Yet the film lightly moves from the tragedies of Edna Gladney's loss of her own child (allegedly fictional) and the sudden death of husband Pidgeon.
Also apparently fictional is the discovery that her sister (Marsha Hunt) was illegitimate herself, committing suicide thanks to the cruel way mother-in-law not to be Kathleen Howard university exposed it. Equally prickly Cecil Cunningham plays a pickle pussed society matron who gets in a snit because she can't use her position to go through special channels and avoid the red tape just so she can get a child obviously for not quite noble motives. Three other OKs bats confront Garson over her goals, giving me the impression that the writer associated ugly souls with harsh looks.
Still, in spite of the obvious falsehoods and manipulations of sentiment, I couldn't be impressed. I easily got past Garson having her black handyman build two new cradles for black foundlings, accompanied by allegedly comical responses and stereotypical "black" music. It's the good heart behind this film that makes it work today, especially with a character that Garson obviously enjoyed playing.
It's up to the individual viewer to judge the facts vs. what is presented in one of MGM's biggest hits of the early 1940's. As the first of many teamings of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. She's a real life innovator of the adoption system, but evidence has arisen that this is a semi- fictional account of her life. But in spite of all that she really did. It's up to Garson to prove that old cliché that there is no such thing as illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents.
Garson got a well deserved second Oscar nomination for this, mainly because of her court appearance where she utters those immortal words, rather controversial for a movie made at the height of the Hays code. The typical MGM gloss is added, along with a ton of sentiment through cute babies and adorable adolescents. Yet the film lightly moves from the tragedies of Edna Gladney's loss of her own child (allegedly fictional) and the sudden death of husband Pidgeon.
Also apparently fictional is the discovery that her sister (Marsha Hunt) was illegitimate herself, committing suicide thanks to the cruel way mother-in-law not to be Kathleen Howard university exposed it. Equally prickly Cecil Cunningham plays a pickle pussed society matron who gets in a snit because she can't use her position to go through special channels and avoid the red tape just so she can get a child obviously for not quite noble motives. Three other OKs bats confront Garson over her goals, giving me the impression that the writer associated ugly souls with harsh looks.
Still, in spite of the obvious falsehoods and manipulations of sentiment, I couldn't be impressed. I easily got past Garson having her black handyman build two new cradles for black foundlings, accompanied by allegedly comical responses and stereotypical "black" music. It's the good heart behind this film that makes it work today, especially with a character that Garson obviously enjoyed playing.