Deux femmes

Pilgrimage (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Hard hitting drama from John Ford about an overbearing mother (Henrietta Crosman) who can't stand to see her son (Norman Foster) with a farm girl (Heather Angel) because she wants him to stand with her his entire life. When the mother learns that her son has the girl pregnant, she puts him in the draft for WW1 where he is eventually killed. The mother still doesn't accept his son's girlfriend or their kids but when she goes to France to visit her son's grave she meets a young couple who are in the same boat as her dead son. This isn't one of Ford's greatest films but I might go on the record as saying it's his greatest directing jobs. It's rather amazing at what Ford is able to do with this film because it's so strong on so many levels when you'd think these levels wouldn't work together. Henrietta Crosman's character is one of the most evil bitches to ever show up in any film. Her self centered ways and the ways she abuses the young woman after her son is killed made my blood boil with hatred. I really, really hated her character and wished the very worst for her. I knew there would be some sort of redemption but I thought it would be impossible for me to give it to her yet Ford works the film in such a way that the message of forgiveness comes across very strong. SOme might balk at the ending but it worked perfectly well for me. Ford handles the redemption very well and it's terrific how he's able to get it while earlier in the film creating a hated character. The supporting cast is very good but the show clearly belongs to Crosman who delivers a brilliant performance. This isn't one of the director's better known films but hopefully its recent DVD release will change that.

It's one of those clingy, possessive mother stories which were popular back then. Watching this, all I could think about was which Laurel and Hardy picture that line came from. It was actually THE FIXER UPPERS and I wish I'd watched that instead of this mushy vat of treacle.

Henrietta Crosman plays a kind of female Scrooge but she's just so horrible and humourless that no amount of seeing the light can redeem her to the viewer. That's the problem with this film - it's acted well, it's directed well but the lead character is just so unpleasant you can't empathise with her. You wish that she'd gone off to the Great War and got blown up instead.

What's difficult for us twenty first century cynics to grasp is that sentimentality, especially concerning the love between a mother and her son was different back then. It wasn't something to be sneered at, it was completely normal for it to be more explicit than it is now. You only have to think of Al Jolson singing to his mammy with tears in his eyes in THE JAZZ SINGER to appreciate that the mother-son thing was a lot stronger then.

In the context of history this has merit. As a motion picture, it's a good example highlighting John Ford's skill. The first half is typical pre-code stuff - you think you're in for a treat but its second half plummets downhill as it focuses on the growing remorse of Mrs Jessop. Her character just isn't likeable enough to command your sympathy and since it's obvious what's going to happen the ultimate viewing experience, especially after such a promising first half is disappointment.

"Pilgrimage" is a phenomenon.First of all ,the subject is not,as the audience is expecting at the beginning of the movie,the story of two lovers but it focuses on the boy's mother ,Mrs Jessop,wonderfully portrayed by Henrietta Crosman.It's very rare that the star of a movie is a middle age woman ,particularly in a John Ford work,even if women often play a prominent part in his films (his last effort was "seven women") Mrs Jessop is a hateful over possessive selfish mom:"I'd rather see my boy dead than with that woman";her hatred knows no bounds when she enlists her son in the army (WW1 time) "whereas other mothers try to hide their son's age".

John Ford wanted the viewer to side with his pitiful heroine only in the last part .His film is never melodramatic because the tragic scenes alternate with prosaic ones (the shooting range in France is telling).And I dare you not to cry when the mom lays withered flowers on the grave and when she meets again her grandson .The cemetery scene is in direct contrast to the ceremony under L'Arc De Triomphe Sur La Tombe Du Soldat Inconnu:between the two moments,Mrs Jessop has become a mother.At last.

"Pilgrimage" works at several levels.

It is "a woman's film" in that it is very emotional.

It presents a cast of superb actors, generally unknown to modern audiences, with the exception of Heather Angel, whose role is actually small despite her second billing.

It is a surprise, too, because its director was John Ford, much better known for such action pictures as "The Searchers" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," or such dark melodramas as "The Informer."

There is a remarkably talented child actor who grew up to become the daddy of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Jay Ward.

Marian Nixon, billed down the list, but with a strong and important role, is not only beautiful, but poignant and touching. She deserves to be considered in the pantheon of great actresses who didn't quite make the top ranks.

Perhaps because of the lack of major names, perhaps because of the time frame of the action, perhaps because of the weepiness of the plot (which I do not say in a pejorative sense), "Pilgrimage" is almost unknown today, but I consider it quite good, definitely worth seeing again.

One of the biggest surprise I had watching a film, a precode Melodrama about a mother and her burdens after she left his son onto a war that ultimately killed him and left his unwed pregnant bride alone. Now few years forward, she heads on for a pilgrimage together with other mothers of dead soldier to find peace and solace in their final resting place.

There something entirely modern watching this film. The stilted attitude shown as is, and is actually looked down. A plight that shows much headspace that lefts its viewer to see how the gears was turning AND a moving change of heart. The story is just more complicated and nuance than a lot of the films that would be made afterwards.

Again, a precode film that defies its age. Pilgrimage is often forgotten in the works of Ford as it is not a Western nor does it include big stars that would be common place in his peak era. But it works. With the central performance of Henrietta Crosman and the other mothers in the film, they do heavy lifting in creating a wounded view of different mothers as they try to make sense of their great loss in the war.

Overall, a delightful find. Wonderful all around.