All the Way Home

Like some of the other commentators, I saw this movie when I was young -- perhaps 11 or 12. I was babysitting the boys next door in 1964, and I think it was on the old NBC Saturday Night at the Movies back in the 1960s. A few years later, I read James Agee's "A Death in the Family" and recognized it as the original source. But years, then decades, went by before I saw the film again.

I remember being entranced by the opening scenes, where I see a father taking his young son into a saloon ... doing the Charlie Chaplin dance ... then going home together. Years later (for me) I had buddies who rented rooms on Forest Street in Knoxville while they attended UT. They knew nothing of the book, nor how families there once lay down on cotton comforters on the grasse of the backside lawns to gaze at the stars. Heck, back in the late 1970s, I could even find in Knoxville the railroad yard and roundhouse mentioned in the book. Probably not now.

It's a wistful movie. Some photography and audio was a little too artful ... a departure from the main scenes. But, like everyone else, I cherished the scenes where Rufus spends time with his Aunt -- especially when he dons that outrageous cap.

You can learn things from movies. For me, an enduring lesson was gained when Robert Preston uses his hands to warm the sheets before his wife gets into bed. I did this for years on cold winter nights when I was a married man for 25 years ... and discovered, after divorce, how such a small act is still appreciated by others.

I also feel fortunate to have met Robert Preston in -- of all places -- the Richmond VA airport somewhere around 1980. Not your normal venue. But we were both trapped by planes diverted by a monster storm. We shared several drinks, he told hilarious stories -- but I stopped him (clearly) when I mentioned that All the Way Home was my favorite movie in which he was featured. "What? Not Music Man?" He feigned to be indignant ... but, perhaps because so few people even knew about this movie, or ever mentioned it to him, he realized I was sincere. He spoke of how much he enjoyed the story, made a few untoward comments about the director and Jean Simmons ... but he clearly liked the role he'd played. He was a very warm and charming and gracious man.

All the Way Home is a terrific movie ... so rare these days to see a film focused on family, love, and the ways youngsters see the world.

I caught this movie on TV many years ago and was so touched by it I wish it was available on DVD but sadly it seems to be one of those movies that disappears into the ether. Strangely enough the people who make the decisions as to what to program on broadcast and cable and those who market DVDs etc. are in lockstep with one another, offering the big hits and so called "classics" as well as truckloads of trash from the last quarter century. This film is an adaptation of James Agee's "A Death in the Family" and is beautifully filmed and acted and it's one of those films that seems somehow better on the home screen because of it's intimacy. If you think as highly of Robert Preston as I do you must see his performance in this movie.

A wonderful, poignant story, beautifully acted against an Americana background. Quiet and deep. Sad and inevitable. The story is told, almost exclusively, through the eyes of a young (6-ish) boy, and the little man who played "Google-Eyes" brings a remarkable amount of depth and, could it possibly be insight?, into the character.

As an aside, the book upon which the play and subsequent movie was based, A Death in the Family by James Agee, was a Pulitzer prize winner. The American composer Samuel Barber used Agee's prologue to A Death in the Family for the text of his "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" - a concert piece for soprano and orchestra. Also a beautiful, almost languid experience.

This movie is almost a perfect distillation of the book, or at least, the perfect adaptation. There's a lot left out of the movie, a lot of background and some characters, but the movie still manages to capture the deepness of the story.

Beautiful cinematography, wonderful script, quiet interpretations, and a beautiful score.

I did find it available for purchase, just the movie, no extras, on iTunes. I think it's been edited, though, as I clearly recall seeing scenes on TV that weren't in the picture.

Catch this movie if you possibly can. And yes, bring some tissues.

It's an absolute travesty that this wonderful movie is not available in any form to those who might wish to see it. Warm, sensitive...this is almost as good as it gets. Seek this one out!

When it came time to casting for All The Way Home, Tad Mosel's Broadway success based on James Agee's novel A Death In The Family, Robert Preston was considered and got the lead. Ironic because a year before Preston had to fight to get the lead in the film version of The Music Man which was his career role. He wasn't considered box office enough. But the huge success The Music Man was convinced Hollywood's elite he was indeed box office again. Preston and Jean Simmons got the leads in place of Arthur Hill and Colleen Dewhurst despite the fact that Dewhurst had won a Ton Award on Broadway. The play ran 333 performances on Broadway in the 1960-1961 season.

Agee's autobiographical work is set in Knoxville, Tennessee and concerns the reactions of the family nuclear and extended to the death of the father and breadwinner. The first half gives you a picture of the various family members and the second half deals with the sudden death of Preston playing the father. Ironically his father survives Preston in the play and in my family my grandmother survived mine and my mother survived my sister. So my family dynamic is similar to that of the Follets of Knoxville. Hence I could identify personally in a way with what was going on. Fate makes an additional point here by having Preston visit his father on a health related issue.

Shot in Agee's own Knoxville they got a good sense of what it was like in 1915 when the story is set. I get the feeling Knoxville hadn't changed that much in the interim years. One wonders what the area looks like now. The authenticity is stamped into the film.

Preston and Simmons are great in their roles. The highlight of the film is Simmons dealing with their young son played by Michael Kearney. This is one of the great performances given by a child actor because Kearney comes off as a real kid not some Hollywood kid. Simmons herself was brilliant throughout, but especially here.

All The Way Home missed a Tony, but got the Pulitzer Prize for drama for Tad Mosel as it had for James Agee in his original novel. The film is great and moving drama and highly recommended for family audiences dealing with what the Follet family deals with in the film.