Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

gavin6942 A retired auto manufacturer (Walter Huston) and his wife (Ruth Chatterton) take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.This William Wyler classic has an interesting fate in hindsight: the two leads are now relatively unknown, while the supporting cast (such as Mary Astor) are more well-remembered. Actually, the film as a whole has been forgotten by many. Another reviewer pointed out that critics and historians love it, but the average viewer has never heard of "Dodsworth".The movie received many Oscar nominations, but only one win: Richard Day for Best Art Direction (not one of the celebrated awards). I may be mistaken, but I feel like the film should be praised for its subject matter. Divorce and international affairs in the 1930s? Seems like the sort of topic the censors would really frown on.

TheLittleSongbird William Wyler has been responsible for a number of great films, of which Dodsworth is one of my favourites from him and from the 30s too.The film looks great, gleamingly shot with beautiful art direction which secured a well-deserved Oscar for Best Art Direction. Alfred Newman's score is melancholic, haunting and orchestrated with such richness, considering the story this approach could have been inappropriate but the story here is written in such a way that the approach is ideal and it is a great score in its own right. Dodsworth is a brilliantly written film, with a nuanced and remarkably honest screenplay that was ahead of its time for back then and still holds much relevance now. The story is full-blown poignant romance with a refreshing honesty and an intensely dark edge, despite how it sounds it's written and constructed in a way that avoids becoming too much of a soap opera.Dodsworth's characters are remarkably compelling in their realism, all having their likable traits and their bad traits. Fran especially could easily have been a character with no redeeming qualities but is written with dimension and played with nuance that you kind of understand what she's going through while never condoning her actions. Wyler directs with elegant class and a good deal of narrative tension. The performances are fantastic from all involved, especially a possible career best from Walter Huston and a quietly dignified Mary Astor. Ruth Chatterton even manages to bring nuance and pathos to a rather snobbish and self-centred role, David Niven is his usual charismatic self and Maria Ouspenskaya makes her short screen time memorable. Nice to see Spring Byinton in a dramatic supporting role after seeing her in more comedic roles.All in all, a William Wyler treasure and a must see. 10/10 Bethany Cox

atlasmb "Dodsworth" is an adaptation of a novel by Sinclair Lewis. I have not read the novel, but every film should stand on its own anyway.The film follows the marriage of a couple who decide to retire and travel abroad. The husband, Sam Dodsworth (Walter Huston), is dedicated to his wife and her wishes. His primary character trait is duty. The wife, Fran Dodsworth (Ruth Chatterton), wishes to get away from her routine life. Her primary character trait is vanity.While on their excursion, they quickly drift apart. To quell her fear of aging, Fran seeks the attentions of other men. Sam--a man of action and industry--finds himself lost in the inaction of leisure.The acting in this film is wonderful. The photography is beautiful. All of the production values--from sets to music--are first class.In my opinion, the story challenges the conception that marriage is about self-sacrifice. It shows the damage that is wrought when one person dedicates his existence to the happiness of another with no regard for his own. It's an important message that gives "Dodsworth" consequence.

Putzberger In "Dodsworth," the title auto magnate embarks on a European tour with his wife, who takes up with a series of penniless but titled men. To modern ears, the plot sounds a tad soapy, but in 1936, social-climbing American divorcées were the destroyers of dynasties, not dowagers out of Danielle Steele, so this Sinclair Lewis novel gets a very tasteful, respectful film treatment with an A-list cast (Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor) and director (William Wyler, master of middlebrow, middle-class drama -- see "The Best Years of Our Lives"). The results are uneven, thanks to an awesome performance by Huston and an awful one by Chatterton, but generally entertaining, thanks to genuine suspense about the survival of the Dodsworth's marriage.Craggy Hollywood legend Huston plays craggy American archetype Sam Dodsworth, a man of humble origins who claws his way to the top through brains and industriousness. After he sells his automobile company to a huge competitor(quite realistic for the time --young audience members will be shocked to learn that there were once more than three car companies in America), his American archetype wife, the vaguely ditzy and dissatisfied Fran (Chatterton), convinces him to enjoy his new leisure by sailing for Europe since she's never been happy in her home town of Zenith (had she read more Lewis novels, she'd realize no one is, not even George Babbitt). Innocents (or idiots) abroad is another shopworn American theme, and here, Europe doesn't get an especially sympathetic treatment since the whole continent is portrayed as swarming with well-dressed smoothies looking for any chance to sponge off of rich, gullible American women. Ruth throws herself at tux after tux, one of which encases a young David Niven (who bears a striking resemblance to a middle-aged David Niven and an old David Niven), until Walter finally has enough and succumbs to the charms of lovely Edith Cortright (Astor), a sad-eyed, charming American divorcée living in Naples. Astor is good, she's very good, as lovely Edith, and I wonder if more traditionalist audiences in the 1930s were rooting for the end of the Dodsworth marriage (as I was) or the reconciliation of Sam and Fran. Wyler and the screenwriters try to build some sympathy for dear Mrs. Dodsworth by subjecting her to a humiliating dressing-down by a slow-talking European countess (the wonderfully named Madame Maria Ouspenskaya) whose son Fran aspires to marry. But since the character of Fran is so shrill and annoying, thanks in part to the script and thanks in part to Ruth Chatterton's inability to convey any real feeling (the character makes about three transitions in every scene, none of which ol' Ruth bothers to register), you kind of wish that the good Madame will pull a pearl-handled revolver from the folds of her gown and put Ruth and the audience out of their collective misery.Once you ignore Ruthie, though, "Dodsworth" is a pretty good time. Between the epic score and the epic scenery, it's a fantastically lush production, and there's some clever filmmaking going on between the economical dialogue (entire relationships are established in three lines) and smart cinematography (every time you see a character standing in a doorway, something major is about to happen). And Huston excels as the kind of homespun hero that Spencer Tracy or Jimmy Stewart were too young to play in 1936, and to his great credit, he doesn't shy from Sam D's darker side -- the scene in which he returns, cuckolded, to Zenith and starts yelling at everyone in his house is fantastically uncomfortable. Angelica inherited her talent from him and her looks, blessedly, from somewhere else.