Look, I won't be the one to rag all over Thornton Wilder's iconic American play. It's a bit fluffy nowadays and can easily be the most trite thing in the world, but it really is a special work of theatre with some rich aspects to it. I will, however, be the one to rag on Sam Wood. The play takes a creative director to make it really sing, and Sam Wood was never one of those. He's assembled a fine cast with some of Hollywood's best actors, character or otherwise--William Holden, Thomas Mitchell, Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi--and thrown in a Broadway vet to reprise the lead role of Emily, Martha Scott. He has no idea really what to do with them. The film is sort of at odds with itself--is it a filmed play? Is it an actual movie? No one really knows. As a result, the performances suffer because of it.

Scott is truly luminous however. She rightfully earned an Oscar nomination, but the film is just shy of a chore to get through. Shame, really. It could work on film very well.