These Wilder Years

It is surprising that it took so long for someone to put Barbara Stanwyck and James Cagney together in a film. This is a much different project, though, than what they may have done together twenty years earlier. Nonetheless, it is fun to watch them pair up for These Wilder Years at MGM.

The performances of the leads are surprisingly tender and subdued. This is quite significant considering that Miss Stanwyck is often given to toughness and that Mr. Cagney has a propensity for ham. But the script (about adoption) calls for a different approach, and fortunately, the director worked with the stars to play the characters instead of themselves; instead of giving what audiences have come to expect from them.

These Wilder Years marks the only teaming of James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck. It would have been nice if they had been teamed for a better film. Can't you just see Stanwyck in Virginia Mayo's part in White Heat?

Still These Wilder Years is not a bad film, high class soap opera the kind of stuff that became popular on television in the Eighties.

James Cagney is a millionaire industrialist looking for the son whose paternity he denied when he was sowing his wild oats. Barbara Stanwyck runs the home for unwed mothers where the girl who Cagney was involved with came and gave up her kid for adoption.

Cagney has the resources to get his way, but Stanwyck with the confidentiality of adoption records has the law on her side. Or has she?

Walter Pigeon plays Cagney's attorney and Don Dubbins, a young actor whose career Cagney was pushing plays the son and both do well. Look for bit parts from Tom {BillyJack} Laughlin, Michael Landon, and Dean Jones all at the start of their careers.

Cagney and Stanwyck are both players with an edge to their parts. It's like they've been taken down into second gear for this film. Still it's a pleasant enough movie. Look for young Betty Lou Keim who is a current unwed mother in Stanwyck's charge. Her scenes with Cagney are quite poignant.

I first saw this film about 20 years ago on Turner Classic Movies and I was far from impressed--so much so that I long resisted seeing it again. However, on a lark, I decided to see it again--especially because I barely remembered the film--just that I didn't particularly like it. In hindsight, I am thrilled that I saw it again since it was far better than I'd remembered plus there were some truly wonderful moments.

The film begins with a very rich and successful James Cagney announcing to his board of directors that he was taking an extended leave of absence and wouldn't tell them why. It turns out that 20 years earlier, Cagney had fathered a child out of wedlock and he was trying to reconnect with this lost child. Naturally the adoption agency was not about to just give him this information and eventually Cagney unleashes lawyers and exerts his influences to try to force the issue.

At the same time, there is a plot involving a nice young girl who Cagney meets who is also pregnant and without resources, so it looks like she'll need to give up her baby. Considering the very obvious parallel, it's not at all surprising where this all leads, but it is still very emotionally satisfying to watch. In addition, there is a great scene at a bowling alley that is full of depth and emotion you often don't find in a Cagney film.

A highly unusual and soap opera-like film that still manages to satisfy despite a bit of predictability. It was well worth a look--I'm glad I did again.

Maltin calls this a soap opera. That's what I expected it to be, but I feel that it's better than that, largely due to Cagney's performance. He's quite believable as a middle aged man who regrets the mistakes of his youth. Barbara Stanwyck is a woman struggling with an emotional and legal conflict. Throw in a good courtroom scene, and you've got a movie that holds your interest to the end. The final resolution is a bit sappy, but overall, the film is pretty good.

With James Cagney's gangster phase at a close, ending beautifully with 1955's Love Me or Leave Me, he turned towards a different kind of role: a regular fellow. In These Wilder Years, he plays a successful businessman who decides he has everything he could ever want except the unfinished business of his past. Without a word of explanation to anyone but his faithful lawyer, Walter Pidgeon, James leaves work and travels to a small town and visits an orphanage. Turns out, he's looking for his son, who was adopted twenty years ago.

In case this sounds a little corny, give it a chance anyway. This one is completely worth watching. The plot moves steadily along, and with old pros like James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck pitted against each other, they each bring a lot of emotion to the table. Barbara is stronger than she looks, and Jimmy holds more secrets than he first lets on. While trying to find his son, Jimmy also bonds with a teenager, Betty Lou Keim, who's pregnant and preparing for the difficult emotional decision of giving her baby to Barbara's orphanage.

There's so much to appreciate about this movie, and if you're a fan of the leads, this is a great transition movie to see them in the second half of their careers. Depending on how sentimental you're feeling, you might want to bring along a Kleenex.