Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Art Direction - Interior Decoration, Color - Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Actress - Greer Garson
Best Cinematography, Color - Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene
Plot: Typical liberal social justice warrior woman wants to go against those sacred conservative morals and, gasp, wants to actually help children.
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Art Direction - Interior Decoration, Color - Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Actress - Greer Garson
Best Cinematography, Color - Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene
Plot: Typical liberal social justice warrior woman wants to go against those sacred conservative morals and, gasp, wants to actually help children.
The lone Technicolor film, Blossoms in the Dust (1941) is also the lone MGM film to be nominated for Best Picture at the 14th Awards. The story takes liberties with the life of Edna Gladney, a children's rights activist in Texas who did a lot to help orphans and "illegitimate" kids, and forms a fictional biopic of the real world social worker. Edna is played by one Greer Garson in all her Technicolor glory with that red hair. This is Garson's second Best Actress nomination in three years and it also started a streak of five consecutive nominations in that lead category. She would only win one Oscar and that came the following year for Mrs. Miniver (1942). Also starring in Miniver is her co-star here, Walter Pidgeon. The Academy would like this pair as three Best Picture nominees feature these two. This is their first of eight collaborations overall. Another interesting tidbit concerns another actress in this film - Marsha Hunt who plays the adoptive sister Charlotte. As of this review, Hunt is still alive! She's the oldest living Academy member at age 104 and is thought to be the last surviving member of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I know Olivia de Havilland only died two years ago but I can't think of any other living performers from these early days. Like Edna, Hunt has been an activist herself and has led a full and impactful life. Here's to 105 Marsha!
Going back to Garson, she is the eminent aspect of the film. Hers in the first of the four performances I will see for Best Actress but she has already set the bar high. She can turn on the emotions when necessary, she acts well with kids and adults alike, and she even has both a courtroom and senate floor scene, with a powerhouse speech resulting from the latter. Her frustration is mirrored by the audience and it's so rewarding to see Edna overcome the stigmas of ideas like labeling a child as illegitimate or creating an ad hoc adoption center. Edna Gladney was such a wonderful person and Garson is the perfect person to portray such a likeable figure. Pidgeon is also a genial fellow. I haven't seen many of his films but his height and good nature reminds me of a Gregory Peck type. I know Pidgeon was a star in his own right so I won't do much more comparison to other actors, but I really liked spending time with him in this movie. The film should also be commended for what it won the Oscar for. The interior design takes full advantage of the Technicolor process. Every location Edna finds herself in, whether it be a lavish house or a rundown building, has what it needs to feel genuine. Vases, paintings, cribs, and even wallpaper on the ceiling, the art direction is fantastic and it feels like we are transported back to the 1900s and 1910s.
The whole film isn't rainbow and sunshine for me. I have some issues with the contrivances of the plot. As a biopic that is only inspired by Edna Gladney's life, there are so many fabrications that are so direct to a given issue the whole thing feels episodic. First we have day cares, then we have adoption centers, then we have passing a bill. All these endeavors are noteworthy but the conflicts that drive them don't feel as genuine as the interior decoration discussed earlier. There were so many on-the-nose pieces of dialogue made to rile up the audience so Edna was forced to do the right thing. There were so many moments that I screamed at the television like I was watching my sports teams lose. Stupid things that old white men and crusty uppity ladies say in the 1910s get my blood boiling but it boiled so much it felt played up a bit too much. There were also two moments in which the men in Edna's life completely blindside her. Please talk to a person before bringing in people as part of a life-changing decision! Another gripe I have is the depiction of black people. The actress who plays the black housekeeper had to put on 'blackface' over her skin because she "photographed too lightly" so as to match the tones of black people in a film like Gone with the Wind (1939). I noticed something off when watching the film but when I saw that piece of trivia I got a little disgusted by it.
Overall, this is an effective emotional journey that covers the highlights of a great lady. Greer Garson portrays Edna Gladney with the grace and prowess that only a rising star like she could. Although the story feels very contrived at times, it will surely pull at your heartstrings. The Technicolor is an added bonus.
My Score: 7/10
Going back to Garson, she is the eminent aspect of the film. Hers in the first of the four performances I will see for Best Actress but she has already set the bar high. She can turn on the emotions when necessary, she acts well with kids and adults alike, and she even has both a courtroom and senate floor scene, with a powerhouse speech resulting from the latter. Her frustration is mirrored by the audience and it's so rewarding to see Edna overcome the stigmas of ideas like labeling a child as illegitimate or creating an ad hoc adoption center. Edna Gladney was such a wonderful person and Garson is the perfect person to portray such a likeable figure. Pidgeon is also a genial fellow. I haven't seen many of his films but his height and good nature reminds me of a Gregory Peck type. I know Pidgeon was a star in his own right so I won't do much more comparison to other actors, but I really liked spending time with him in this movie. The film should also be commended for what it won the Oscar for. The interior design takes full advantage of the Technicolor process. Every location Edna finds herself in, whether it be a lavish house or a rundown building, has what it needs to feel genuine. Vases, paintings, cribs, and even wallpaper on the ceiling, the art direction is fantastic and it feels like we are transported back to the 1900s and 1910s.
The whole film isn't rainbow and sunshine for me. I have some issues with the contrivances of the plot. As a biopic that is only inspired by Edna Gladney's life, there are so many fabrications that are so direct to a given issue the whole thing feels episodic. First we have day cares, then we have adoption centers, then we have passing a bill. All these endeavors are noteworthy but the conflicts that drive them don't feel as genuine as the interior decoration discussed earlier. There were so many on-the-nose pieces of dialogue made to rile up the audience so Edna was forced to do the right thing. There were so many moments that I screamed at the television like I was watching my sports teams lose. Stupid things that old white men and crusty uppity ladies say in the 1910s get my blood boiling but it boiled so much it felt played up a bit too much. There were also two moments in which the men in Edna's life completely blindside her. Please talk to a person before bringing in people as part of a life-changing decision! Another gripe I have is the depiction of black people. The actress who plays the black housekeeper had to put on 'blackface' over her skin because she "photographed too lightly" so as to match the tones of black people in a film like Gone with the Wind (1939). I noticed something off when watching the film but when I saw that piece of trivia I got a little disgusted by it.
Overall, this is an effective emotional journey that covers the highlights of a great lady. Greer Garson portrays Edna Gladney with the grace and prowess that only a rising star like she could. Although the story feels very contrived at times, it will surely pull at your heartstrings. The Technicolor is an added bonus.
My Score: 7/10