Tom Garrison (Melvyn Douglas) is a charming, if stubborn older man, determined to keep his dignity as he gets old. Of course, anybody can understand this, but there's more to Tom than meets the eye. He seems to spend more time badmouthing his own father (who abandoned him and his mother when he was a youth, turning up at her funeral only to be rebuked by his son) than really taking the time to get to know his children, loyal Gene Hackman and rebellious Estelle Parsons, never caring to know their own dreams and goals or sharing their passions. Yes, he's a very warm person, certainly not cold like "On Golden Pond's" Norman Thayer, but there's something controlling in his warmth. Parsons ran out on the family years before, disappointing her father by marrying a Jewish man, which left her and Hackman's mother (the lovely Dorothy Stickney) lonely for the companionship of their children.
Hackman's Gene (yes, the same first name as the actor) has stood by his parents as they've aged but secretly both hates his father and desires the chance to really get to know him. When mom passes away suddenly (from a broken heart Douglas accuses Hackman of giving her when he announces his desire to marry and move to California), Parsons shows up and together they try to get their father to make plans. But the old man at first gently claims that he's capable of making it on his own (as long as Hackman is around to check on him once or twice a week), and this leads to a verbal fight between Douglas and Parsons because of her insistence that he get a live-in housekeeper. She's through with the feelings of guilt, having only been a recurring presence in the household since running off, while Hackman has stood by. The anger deep inside Hackman which he has held onto finally explodes after a scene insinuating a possible emotional closure, and as many old people find out, their children aren't as willing to kow-tow to their every whim as they think they are.
Powerful, emotional family drama, nobody is the villain here and yet nobody (except maybe Stickney) is perfect. Douglas, the romantic leading man who kissed Garbo, Crawford, Colbert and many others, is now the Lionel Barrymore of his day, an irascible but lovable man who shoots himself in the foot by being unable to give his children the unconditional love they require. Of course, he's wounded from the memory of his own father and the premature death of his beloved mother, so the scars are real. While the story seems to surround Hackman, it is Mr. Douglas you will long remember, feel sorry for, even though you can tell that being in the same shoes as Hackman and Parsons (a nice reunion as siblings after playing husband and wife in "Bonnie and Clyde") would make you react the same way. There's not really a conclusion here, but a winding circle that continues to tick the clock of time, where each generation must learn from the mistakes of the previous generation of how not to be.
The lovely Elizabeth Hubbard, then playing a doctor with many romantic issues on daytime's "The Doctors", is sweet and loving as Hackman's fiancée (even though he cheats on her with Lovelady Powell in an earlier scene), and a far cry from her lioness businesswoman/mama Lucinda Walsh on "As the World Turns". With sandy blonde hair, a gorgeous face and an unforgettable voice, Hubbard makes something really shine in the small part. Character performers like Conrad Bain, James Karen and Sloane Shelton pop up in small roles, all providing something special to this excellent ensemble piece.
After sharing "Life With Father", Broadway vet Dorothy Stickney takes that character to a modern, aged level as Douglas's loyal wife, quietly lonely since the departure of her children. I would have loved to have one scene between Stickney and Parsons, but even in excellent theater, you can't have everything. Parsons isn't the screaming harpy of "Bonnie and Clyde" or the judgmental, nagging mother on TV's "Roseanne". She's a totally happy woman, content as long as she is away from her father. When she declares how much she misses her mother, the years of regret seem to erase itself from her mind as she remembers exactly why she departed in the first place. Hackman, bursting on the brink of becoming a leading man, almost is the leading man, snipped by just a hair by the presence of Douglas as his father whom he never sang for. This film has many reminders of why families usually fail in their attempts to remain together as old resentments continuously resurface, especially when never properly dealt which when the original circumstances occurred.
Hackman's Gene (yes, the same first name as the actor) has stood by his parents as they've aged but secretly both hates his father and desires the chance to really get to know him. When mom passes away suddenly (from a broken heart Douglas accuses Hackman of giving her when he announces his desire to marry and move to California), Parsons shows up and together they try to get their father to make plans. But the old man at first gently claims that he's capable of making it on his own (as long as Hackman is around to check on him once or twice a week), and this leads to a verbal fight between Douglas and Parsons because of her insistence that he get a live-in housekeeper. She's through with the feelings of guilt, having only been a recurring presence in the household since running off, while Hackman has stood by. The anger deep inside Hackman which he has held onto finally explodes after a scene insinuating a possible emotional closure, and as many old people find out, their children aren't as willing to kow-tow to their every whim as they think they are.
Powerful, emotional family drama, nobody is the villain here and yet nobody (except maybe Stickney) is perfect. Douglas, the romantic leading man who kissed Garbo, Crawford, Colbert and many others, is now the Lionel Barrymore of his day, an irascible but lovable man who shoots himself in the foot by being unable to give his children the unconditional love they require. Of course, he's wounded from the memory of his own father and the premature death of his beloved mother, so the scars are real. While the story seems to surround Hackman, it is Mr. Douglas you will long remember, feel sorry for, even though you can tell that being in the same shoes as Hackman and Parsons (a nice reunion as siblings after playing husband and wife in "Bonnie and Clyde") would make you react the same way. There's not really a conclusion here, but a winding circle that continues to tick the clock of time, where each generation must learn from the mistakes of the previous generation of how not to be.
The lovely Elizabeth Hubbard, then playing a doctor with many romantic issues on daytime's "The Doctors", is sweet and loving as Hackman's fiancée (even though he cheats on her with Lovelady Powell in an earlier scene), and a far cry from her lioness businesswoman/mama Lucinda Walsh on "As the World Turns". With sandy blonde hair, a gorgeous face and an unforgettable voice, Hubbard makes something really shine in the small part. Character performers like Conrad Bain, James Karen and Sloane Shelton pop up in small roles, all providing something special to this excellent ensemble piece.
After sharing "Life With Father", Broadway vet Dorothy Stickney takes that character to a modern, aged level as Douglas's loyal wife, quietly lonely since the departure of her children. I would have loved to have one scene between Stickney and Parsons, but even in excellent theater, you can't have everything. Parsons isn't the screaming harpy of "Bonnie and Clyde" or the judgmental, nagging mother on TV's "Roseanne". She's a totally happy woman, content as long as she is away from her father. When she declares how much she misses her mother, the years of regret seem to erase itself from her mind as she remembers exactly why she departed in the first place. Hackman, bursting on the brink of becoming a leading man, almost is the leading man, snipped by just a hair by the presence of Douglas as his father whom he never sang for. This film has many reminders of why families usually fail in their attempts to remain together as old resentments continuously resurface, especially when never properly dealt which when the original circumstances occurred.