Director: Irving Rapper
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Actors: Fredric March, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 1 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Warner Bros.
Plot: A minister and his devout wife and kids move from one crummy place to another, having to put up with snobbish members of church; the minister adapts to the times by seeing a film and blackmailing people to build a church.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Actors: Fredric March, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 1 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Warner Bros.
Plot: A minister and his devout wife and kids move from one crummy place to another, having to put up with snobbish members of church; the minister adapts to the times by seeing a film and blackmailing people to build a church.
One Foot in Heaven (1941) achieves the scenario that perplexes me the most as it relates to Academy Award nominations - the rare instance that sees a film get the Best Picture nod without any other nominations. It baffles my mind that a film can be considered one of the ten best without even so much as an indication on what makes it excel through the other categories. This hasn't happened since the 11th Awards but that instance is one of my favorite Best Picture nominees in the Project thus far, Grand Illusion (1937). For the duration of this adaptation of an autobiography (the eldest son's), I pondered on which category this may have been overlooked.
In a year with twenty (count 'em, twenty!) Best Scoring nominations, perhaps Max Steiner's score should have joined the Best Picture nod. Some of it is reminiscent of his work in Gone with the Wind (1939) with sweeping strings and brass, but it's distinctive enough to merit notoriety here. In addition to the score, the diegetic music selection gives this film character. The concluding piece played on the church bells stands out but the kids singing in the church and the piano playing in the silent film movie theater is also essential and elevates the story. That whole sequence in the movie theater is a cinephile's dream. Recreating what it would have been like to go to a theater c. 1917 with a live musician accompanying silent films makes this my favorite part of the movie; this might have been enough for an Art Direction nomination. It also is a turning point in Frederic March's character, one that made me finally start pulling for him.
Although I didn't mind March's performance, it was difficult for me to connect with him. Part of the story is about his firm commitment to the "Discipline" (no movies, books, dancing, basically anything fun). He forced his family into this life of artistic attrition, all with a smile on his face. He also wins so many arguments with his wife and never seems to compromise. For instance, they quarrel on a name for their third born baby. He finally settles on naming his son after himself per his wife's wishes, although he thinks a "junior" is a "sissy name" and he doesn't want to raise a "sissy" (you can you see why I don't like this guy?). As he christens his son (he is the minister after all), he changes the name to what he wanted all along and the wife, played by Martha Scott, just takes it like a good obedient wife should, I guess. It's such a one-sided relationship but is never abusive. She's simply excruciatingly compliant. But as I stated above, he starts to get with the times by going to a movie and advocating for recreation facilities near the church. It's all fine and dandy aside from the fact he blackmails his donors into giving large sums of money. The donors act elitist and do some pretty awful things so the blackmail is meant to be somewhat rewarding to the character and audience, but it all doesn't sit right with me.
Overall, an episodic narrative that faithfully recreates certain time periods with music, costumes, and set design makes this an interesting picture from a historical perspective. However, the story lacks substance and there are issues with the characters, especially Frederic March's William Spence.
My Score: 5/10
In a year with twenty (count 'em, twenty!) Best Scoring nominations, perhaps Max Steiner's score should have joined the Best Picture nod. Some of it is reminiscent of his work in Gone with the Wind (1939) with sweeping strings and brass, but it's distinctive enough to merit notoriety here. In addition to the score, the diegetic music selection gives this film character. The concluding piece played on the church bells stands out but the kids singing in the church and the piano playing in the silent film movie theater is also essential and elevates the story. That whole sequence in the movie theater is a cinephile's dream. Recreating what it would have been like to go to a theater c. 1917 with a live musician accompanying silent films makes this my favorite part of the movie; this might have been enough for an Art Direction nomination. It also is a turning point in Frederic March's character, one that made me finally start pulling for him.
Although I didn't mind March's performance, it was difficult for me to connect with him. Part of the story is about his firm commitment to the "Discipline" (no movies, books, dancing, basically anything fun). He forced his family into this life of artistic attrition, all with a smile on his face. He also wins so many arguments with his wife and never seems to compromise. For instance, they quarrel on a name for their third born baby. He finally settles on naming his son after himself per his wife's wishes, although he thinks a "junior" is a "sissy name" and he doesn't want to raise a "sissy" (you can you see why I don't like this guy?). As he christens his son (he is the minister after all), he changes the name to what he wanted all along and the wife, played by Martha Scott, just takes it like a good obedient wife should, I guess. It's such a one-sided relationship but is never abusive. She's simply excruciatingly compliant. But as I stated above, he starts to get with the times by going to a movie and advocating for recreation facilities near the church. It's all fine and dandy aside from the fact he blackmails his donors into giving large sums of money. The donors act elitist and do some pretty awful things so the blackmail is meant to be somewhat rewarding to the character and audience, but it all doesn't sit right with me.
Overall, an episodic narrative that faithfully recreates certain time periods with music, costumes, and set design makes this an interesting picture from a historical perspective. However, the story lacks substance and there are issues with the characters, especially Frederic March's William Spence.
My Score: 5/10