DODSWORTH

William Wyler’s magnificent adaptation of the 1936 novel by Sinclair Lewis is a film of remarkable emotional sophistication, starring Walter Huston as captain of industry Sam Dodsworth and stage star Ruth Chatterton as his wife Fran, whose 20-year marriage proves less than durable following his retirement. Auguring Wyler’s career of thrillingly human-sized films told on large canvases, DODSWORTH is a film of psychological complexity and wisdom, charting Sam and Fran’s separate romantic explorations while on their retirement tour of Europe, replete with Wyler’s instinctively dazzling compositions, with assist from the legendary PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC cinematographer Rudolph Maté.

“Long-take passages with the couple moving heatedly across living rooms, bedrooms, and other intimate spaces, stand as some of the most revelatory, juxtaposing the pair’s seismic quarrels with the boring business of a day’s passing. While they tear at each other’s hearts, they casually strip out of their evening wear and into pajamas. Sam fetches Fran’s cold cream, then points his toothbrush toward her to drive home a point. Whether allowing his actors such freedom to sketch these individuals or bolstering their characterizations with his own articulate camera moves, Wyler proves an ideal facilitator, translating a couple’s innermost anxieties to a realm of frantic cinematic passion.” - Danny King, Screen Slate