Sol de Outono

Though dealing primarily with an upper-class character, this picture involves decisions and emotional conflicts that everyone can relate to. The bittersweet story reminds us that to a greater or lesser extent we all settle for something less than the life we dreamed of. On the surface, the characters here are happy: they say they are, and they mean it. But beneath that surface are disappointment and longing that they keenly feel when the past is recalled. Better not to think about it, and just go on with the life you have.

Hedy Lamarr was a curious choice for this role. It doesn't really suit her, but she handles it better than one might expect.

This terrific little gem of a drama puts forth the idea that we all "settle" in life, for a life (or person) more "stable" or, at least, more comfortable (e.g. per our upbringing). Though we may passionately believe we want that something (or someone) else, for practical reasons (or other circumstances) we'll accept "less". We may even hold onto an old dream, which we've romanticized about to the point that all the negatives are gone and only the positives remain in our memories, such that we believe it can still be made to work ... only to find that the moment has passed, we've changed, and/or the "air is out of the balloon":

Such was the relationship portrayed between the staid title character, played by Robert Young, and a businesswoman, whose character was intentionally given the male name of Marvin, but is played by the decidedly unmasculine Hedy Lamarr. Though Pulham was raised to marry a woman like Kay (Ruth Hussey), whom he eventually does, he spends his early years in the advertising business pursuing co-worker (and artist?) Marvin, who's a bit too "modern" for his conservative family's values.

The story is told in flashback, with Pulham examining his life while writing his Harvard class biography. Coincidentally, he's just gotten a call from Marvin, who's also married and just wants to meet for drinks after all these years.

Produced and directed by King Vidor (who co-wrote the screenplay, based on the John Marquand novel with his wife Elizabeth Hill), the cast is excellent and includes Charles Coburn as Young's father, Van Heflin as his longtime friend, classmate and business associate, Fay Holden as his mother, Bonita Granville as his sister, Douglas Wood as his boss, and Sara Haden as his secretary. Charles Halton plays a client of the ad agency, Leif Erickson a football playing friend of Pulham's, and Anne Revere (uncredited) his father's secretary. Frank Faylen, Byron Foulger, Ava Gardner (her second film), Connie Gilchrist, and Grant Withers also appear uncredited.

The story is told through flashback, as a middle-aged H. M. Pulham (Robert Young), who has always done the right thing and followed in his family's footsteps, looks back to find out he's not sure if it was worth it. Any movie that ponders whether or not the traditional road is the best strikes me as having gone out on a limb at this time, with war looming right around the corner. The ideas are actually very similar to those in The Razor's Edge, but are told with gentle detail, and attention to the everyday and the common. In fact, one could look at the film as a sort of light version of The Crowd.

The movie starts with Pulham the banker's daily breakfast routine... a glass of orange juice, a soft boiled egg, a piece of toast with the edges cut off (a piece of which is always given as a treat for the dog). Then into his overcoat, loading his pocket with 2 in-the-shell peanuts, and a brisk walk to the office. He stops to feed the squirrels (could Lubitsch have seen this movie and dreamed up Cluny Brown? I think it's possible) along the way and breathes deeply 25 times until he reaches the workplace. This quiet little series of scenes lets us know right from the start that Pulham has followed this same routine every day for 25 years. He's not unhappy, but he does seem sort of... empty.

Through the course of the film, we find out that he was once a more spontaneous young man, how he was brought up, who he loved, and later lost, how he came to be married, and what happened to make him adhere to these silly habits so strongly. It's a lovely film, that actually tackles some difficult questions, not wholly resolving itself at the end. It's sad and funny and true. I found the acting all around exceptionally good, especially the 3 principles, Young, Lamarr and Ruth Hussey, who sets just the right tone throughout the picture, changing from silly chatterbox to sweet young thing, to genuine helpmeet. Lamarr gives an exceedingly good performance, it must have been a relief to play a smart woman for a change, and she shows genuine affection for Young. I really liked her here. Their scenes together are sweet and melancholy, as all memories are. Young portrays a man who has always let things happen to him, he weakly goes this way and that, the way the wind blows. A man who only once did something out of the ordinary, and wonders if he had done it all differently would he have been happy. It was an indefinable experience for me, I find it as charming and inexplicable as the afore-mentioned Cluny Brown... only this film is closer to being told from the viewpoint of say, Peter Lawford's character, or maybe Charles Foster Kane's. "If I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man."

King Vidor is exquisitely good at showing how everyday life can sap the strength out of people, how the little moments escape us and then we realize later how important they were. He shows how time catches up with us all, without preaching or the requisite happy ending, though the film does tie things up in a hopeful way. A fascinating, lovely little film.

Previous comments referred to the slow pace of the story, in a way I agree, but we're talking about a different time in the cinema. It was a pleasure to see how the characters were formed and could only attest to the direction of King Vidor. Hedy in her role as a career woman, had the full understanding of the character. Her outstanding beauty ( even in a masculine business suit) are not to be denied. Some people have said she was not a great actress, and indeed she wasn't, but certainly a competent one, and she proved here, given the right roles. As for Robert Young, I thought he was also excellent in the main role, as were all the others. Kudos to all of them for an enjoyable two hours.

This muted but affecting version of John P. Marquand's stinging reproach of the turn of the last century's hidebound upper classes, this beautiful MGM production is easily Hedy Lamarr's finest performance. Co-starring the too frequently overlooked Robert Young and the multifaceted Van Heflin (who would win a Best Supporting Oscar that year for Johnny Eager), the film also boasts the usual MGM powerful supporting cast (including Charles Coburn, Ruth Hussy, Bonita Granville and a cameo by the great Anne Revere). Under King Vidor's perceptive direction, this tale of a man's reflection of a life full of stifling tradition becomes a poignant, subtle exploration of lost opportunity. At last given a role of substance, Lamarr is wonderful as an educated working class woman with aspirations, who must watch the man she loves cave in to the expectations of wealth and tradition. A gem of a film; discover it for yourselves.