This is old-time movie-making at its finest, featuring an ensemble of well-known, well-loved actors. Filmed before either Shirley MacLaine or Anthony Perkins had become established, this film doesn't feature a really big star. The headliner, Shirley Booth, delivers a typically nuanced, poignant performance, but she is hardly a big star. This film is all about ensemble acting. The story, the sets and the actors are all wonderful. This is a far better adaptation of Thornton Wilder than Our Town.
There is one element of the film that prevents my rating it higher than an 8. Although they are consistent with Wilder's play, the constant asides, directed to the audience, are a distraction. As I watched the story, I found their constant reminder that I was watching a play instead of a depiction of life a real intrusion. I kept wanting to watch the story unfold in an uninterrupted fashion, and I wondered how that might have altered my perception of the story and the characters. Perhaps the device of the stage manager, as employed in Our Town, would have been more suitable and less distracting here. Or perhaps just breaking the fourth wall at the beginning and end of the film would have been better - employing some other method of imparting to the audience the information delivered in the asides. I just wished that this film had not employed the device of having the characters, themselves, step outside the story, directly addressing the audience. This doesn't ruin the film, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if the characters had all remained within the framework of the story. Simply put, I would have been more involved with the character of Dolly (and the other characters) had she been presented as "real" and not just a character within a play.
Nonetheless, this is a highly entertaining film, superior to the succeeding musical versions of the story, and a better adaptation of Thornton Wilder than Our Town. I recommend it highly.
There is one element of the film that prevents my rating it higher than an 8. Although they are consistent with Wilder's play, the constant asides, directed to the audience, are a distraction. As I watched the story, I found their constant reminder that I was watching a play instead of a depiction of life a real intrusion. I kept wanting to watch the story unfold in an uninterrupted fashion, and I wondered how that might have altered my perception of the story and the characters. Perhaps the device of the stage manager, as employed in Our Town, would have been more suitable and less distracting here. Or perhaps just breaking the fourth wall at the beginning and end of the film would have been better - employing some other method of imparting to the audience the information delivered in the asides. I just wished that this film had not employed the device of having the characters, themselves, step outside the story, directly addressing the audience. This doesn't ruin the film, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if the characters had all remained within the framework of the story. Simply put, I would have been more involved with the character of Dolly (and the other characters) had she been presented as "real" and not just a character within a play.
Nonetheless, this is a highly entertaining film, superior to the succeeding musical versions of the story, and a better adaptation of Thornton Wilder than Our Town. I recommend it highly.