Un mariage à Boston

This is a different sort of Ronald Colman movie. In an odd move, he plays the central character in the film but is also a very flawed man--not the sort of likable guy you'd expect him to be. This was quite a risk, though with this film and A DOUBLE LIFE (both 1947), Colman took on some darker characters. Now I am not saying that Colman is evil in THE LATE GEORGE APLEY, but he certainly is as far from the guy you'd see him play in THE PRISONER OF ZENDA or LOST HORIZON as you could get!

Colman plays George Apley--the head of a distinguished but way too self-important family of quality in Boston circa 1912. He is the blue-bloodest blue blood in town and a man completely wrapped up in traditions. And, according to traditions, his two grown children should marry within their ranks--and not for love but for family honor. The problem is that the son does not want to marry the cousin who was always designated to be his wife and the daughter is in love with a Yale man (uggh, for shame that he didn't go to Harvard!). So the heart of the story is will Apley get with the times or will he remain stuck and duty-boud forever? Fortunately, his brother-in-law (Percy Waram) was there to gently nudge George in the right direction and although Waram is NOT a well-known actor, his smaller role was probably the most interesting and pivotal in the film. He easily upstaged other supporting actors in the film such as Richard Haydn and Midred Natwick.

The film is funny, but in a very, very subtle way. If you are looking for belly laughs, this is not your film. However, it is a nice film about social satire and it is well made form start to finish as well as very different---something I value considering how many films I have watched over the years. Well worth seeing.

Ronald Coleman has a resemblance to Errol Flynn but far exceeds him in gentility,suavity and urbanity. His voice is mellifluous and unlike any male actor of his time, even to this day.His portrayal of George Apley is really entertaining and very realistic as anyone would know by reading novels written at the time about Boston "brahmins". The character he plays is the quintessential Boston blue blood. He could portray outrage in a controlled manner expected of the character of George Apley and also profound sadness at the discovery of the drawbacks of Bostonian upbringing.The humor in the whole story is also genteel and yet manages to make some in the audience laugh out loud. I did as I watched this gem of a movie. This movie is a treat to watch for those who view a movie in all its dimensions. His character eclipses all the rest in the story including that portrayed by the great Mildred Natwick.

The Late George Apley provides Ronald Colman in one of the best roles of his career as the proper Bostonian George Apley in those pre-World War I years. It's funny, but even then Boston had slipped away from the grasp of his kind. Those immigrants, starting with the ones from Ireland had been running the government there for about a generation when this play on which the film is based is set. But don't tell that to George, his kind if they don't outrightly rule, they do set the standards of proper conduct for America. When the Apleys gather for Thanksgiving, they're most mindful of the fact that some of their ancestors originated it.

But even Colman and his insular Boston world can't escape generational problems. Both his son Richard Ney and his daughter Peggy Cummins are having problems with their respective choices as life partners, especially Cummins who wants to marry a man who graduated from of all places, Yale.

Colman, maybe the most civilized leading man ever in screen history captures the essence of the decent, but somewhat fatuous George Apley. A man who thinks all the answers to life's problems can be found in a volume of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Even Emerson didn't think that.

The Late George Apley is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by John P. Marquand who also collaborated with George S. Kaufman on the play. Their creation ran for 384 performances in the 1944-45 season and starred Leo G. Carroll and Janet Beecher on stage. Edna Best takes Beecher's role on screen as the patient wife of Colman.

Some really fine players populate the cast. Richard Haydn plays his usual fuss budget busybody of a cousin, always eager to help Colman maintain the high Apley standards. Mildred Natwick is Colman's even snootier sister and Percy Waram who was the only player to repeat his role from the stage plays her patient husband who talks to Colman like a Dutch uncle, not a brother-in-law.

The Late George Apley is a good American answer to those British comedy of manners even though a lot of this cast is of British origin. Would we had someone of the wit of George S. Kaufman today to write them and an actor with elegant prose of Ronald Colman to speak the lines.

I watched this last night. I'd never even heard of it before so read the reviews here, which led me to expect it to be slightly dull but worth watching because of Ronald Coleman.

I didn't expect it to be so funny! Within the first ten minutes I was laughing out loud and I found it funny, sweet and charming all the way through.

The humor is very subtle, almost what I would call "British" humor, wry, sly and dry. The opposite of slapstick. Such great actors who can convey so much with a pause, a glance, wonderful to watch.

The movie is 60 years old, takes place nearly 100 years ago and thousands of miles away from where I live but I know people who are exactly like that. Which is probably why I found it so funny.

Perhaps the ending is a bit predictable but there were some nice plot twists in getting there. A quiet movie, yes, but not at all dull. I would definitely watch it again.

I doubt this film could have been pulled off without Ronald Colman in the title role as a descendant of the prominent Apley family of Boston. His entire life is taken up with people of similar background, and he considers anything outside of the Back Bay of Boston to be a foreign country. The film is set in the years prior to WWI and horse drawn forms of transportation are still the norm. He believes in his own form of noblesse oblige, and is very satisfied with his ways of giving back to the community - Tuesday Night Club on Tuesday, Wednesday Night Club on Wednesday - need I say more?

In this rarefied museum piece of a life, George's children are about to turn everything upside down. His daughter is in love with a Harvard professor - so far so good - who is a Yale man! And the young man is teaching that Emerson is a rebel! Even worse, his son is in love with a young lady from Worcester whose father is president of a tool and die works! "A foreigner" as George himself says. To top things off a flashing electric sign advertising Grapenuts has been put within sight of his front door.

Like I said before, if the part of George was played by anybody else but the dapper and charming Colman, this guy would probably come across as insufferable. As it turns out, George really has a generous soul, a point that is driven home by Colman's portrayal, but his point of view is crowded with traditions that are centuries old whose origin he doesn't really understand himself, and to step away from them - or to see any member of his family step away from them - leads to a sense of discomfort that makes him feel that he perceives a wrong that must be righted.

I'll let you watch and see how this all works out, but it really is a delightful comedy of manners with real heart and delightful character actors in the supporting roles. Highly recommended.