While Walter Huston played some heroic characters, none was more heroic to depression era audiences than Abraham Lincoln. Ironically, Lincoln's "A House Divided" speech became the theme of one of his next films, where he's not quite the all American hero that old Abe was. But don't villainize his character as a brute, a chauvinist, or any millennial term for what men have been criticized for being since the advent of women's liberation. He's unapologetic for who he is, brought up to be the only word in the family, to be the boss, to demand rather than command children to have respect, and no arguments about it allowed.
The opening scene has widower Huston burying his first wife, then giving his son (Douglas Montgomery) a thrashing for publicly humiliating him for disrespecting the memory of his mother. Montgomery desires to leave, but his father will hear nothing of the kind. It would be too easy to dismiss Huston's character as a bully, but his character rings true among his circumstances. Huston puts his heart into his role, and like other overly macho characters, creates somebody very real and hiding dimensions of pride and faith behind the arrogance.
Like the Eugene O'Neill play, "Desire Under the Elms", Huston takes a younger bride (Helen Chandler) who had first met the gentle Montgomery and mistook him for the man she was to marry. Huston at first doesn't want a dainty 19 year old, but obvious lust takes over. The already fragile father and son dynamic is forever torn as the brutish Huston allows Montgomery to leave after insulting him viciously. This leads to a brutal fight that forever changes Huston's life in a shocking manner and a new dimension in the relationship between Montgomery and much younger stepmother Chandler.
I tried hard to spot both Walter Brennan and Marjorie Main among the extras, to no avail. The fishing village setting is a gorgeous alteration of one of Universal's major sets, and under the direction of novice William Wyler, becomes an early artistic triumph for the not quite A studio. Fantastic performances by the three leads (particularly by Huston) gives a grim drama a fascinating character driven tone, and that makes this one of the best films of the early 1930's.
The opening scene has widower Huston burying his first wife, then giving his son (Douglas Montgomery) a thrashing for publicly humiliating him for disrespecting the memory of his mother. Montgomery desires to leave, but his father will hear nothing of the kind. It would be too easy to dismiss Huston's character as a bully, but his character rings true among his circumstances. Huston puts his heart into his role, and like other overly macho characters, creates somebody very real and hiding dimensions of pride and faith behind the arrogance.
Like the Eugene O'Neill play, "Desire Under the Elms", Huston takes a younger bride (Helen Chandler) who had first met the gentle Montgomery and mistook him for the man she was to marry. Huston at first doesn't want a dainty 19 year old, but obvious lust takes over. The already fragile father and son dynamic is forever torn as the brutish Huston allows Montgomery to leave after insulting him viciously. This leads to a brutal fight that forever changes Huston's life in a shocking manner and a new dimension in the relationship between Montgomery and much younger stepmother Chandler.
I tried hard to spot both Walter Brennan and Marjorie Main among the extras, to no avail. The fishing village setting is a gorgeous alteration of one of Universal's major sets, and under the direction of novice William Wyler, becomes an early artistic triumph for the not quite A studio. Fantastic performances by the three leads (particularly by Huston) gives a grim drama a fascinating character driven tone, and that makes this one of the best films of the early 1930's.