Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 28, 2020 10:36:32 GMT -8
Make Way for Tomorrow
Beulah Bondi (Mrs. Bailey) and Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy) would get together in 1946 for another movie. In this one, Bondi plays Lucy Cooper who, along with her husband, have lost their home and must move in with their children. She moves in with her son, George (Thomas Mitchell). Her husband moves in with another sibling who lives 300 miles away.
The premise of the movie is stretched from the get-go. If you can house one of these parents, why not both? You don’t have room for a double bed?
The synopsis of this movie at The Criterion Channel suggests that a bunch of self-centered, ungrateful kids are at the root of this problem. And one of the sisters is indeed a mess and (as in all families) there is another sibling who offers no help at all.
When the parents do move in with their children, the simplistic synopsis of “children are bad” breaks down as the parents themselves prove to be obnoxious, needy, and anything but trying hard to fit in.
This portion of the movie — parents annoying their children — staggers on for far too long, although there is a very good scene with Mother Cooper making a nuisance of herself while her daughter is trying to give bridge classes in her home to about 16 people.
It still doesn’t occur to anyone that it takes only about a couple feet more of extra space for a double bed. Barkley “Bark” Cooper (the father) comes down with something and the children, along with a compliant doctor, concoct a scenario whereby the father must move to California with the one sister who thus far has given no help. You see, she lives in a warmer client which will be better for father. (Have they no indoor heating?)
And, of course, there is no room for his wife in California, the state being too small, I guess. But if you can look past this malarkey, the plot does give way to a second and entirely different movie in the last quarter. Lucy Cooper and Bark Cooper spend a last day together before he is shipped off to California. They have a nice stroll in the park. They talk about old times. And despite losing their home, Mrs. Cooper tells Bark that he is a success and she wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for anything.
One thing leads to another, and they make their way to a grand hotel where they had spent their honeymoon. Word gets out to the manager and the manager then lavishes the works on them. Free champagne. Free dinner. And even the conductor of the orchestra changes the tune for them, something better suited for them to dance to. It’s a wonderful and heartwarming part of the movie, including up until the end where they say goodbye (perhaps for the last time) when she sees him off on his train to California.
Oh, and previously, Bark had called back home where his children were waiting dinner on them and told them that he and his wife were not only not coming home to dinner but they were an awful bunch of children.
This is one of those old movies that I’m glad I saw. But I wish a couple of those premise-points would have been smoothed over a bit. And the title doesn't seem to fit the movie in the least. Still, hearts were in the right place. Although this movie was apparently not a commercial success, director Leo McCarey would go on to direct Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s.
Beulah Bondi (Mrs. Bailey) and Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy) would get together in 1946 for another movie. In this one, Bondi plays Lucy Cooper who, along with her husband, have lost their home and must move in with their children. She moves in with her son, George (Thomas Mitchell). Her husband moves in with another sibling who lives 300 miles away.
The premise of the movie is stretched from the get-go. If you can house one of these parents, why not both? You don’t have room for a double bed?
The synopsis of this movie at The Criterion Channel suggests that a bunch of self-centered, ungrateful kids are at the root of this problem. And one of the sisters is indeed a mess and (as in all families) there is another sibling who offers no help at all.
When the parents do move in with their children, the simplistic synopsis of “children are bad” breaks down as the parents themselves prove to be obnoxious, needy, and anything but trying hard to fit in.
This portion of the movie — parents annoying their children — staggers on for far too long, although there is a very good scene with Mother Cooper making a nuisance of herself while her daughter is trying to give bridge classes in her home to about 16 people.
It still doesn’t occur to anyone that it takes only about a couple feet more of extra space for a double bed. Barkley “Bark” Cooper (the father) comes down with something and the children, along with a compliant doctor, concoct a scenario whereby the father must move to California with the one sister who thus far has given no help. You see, she lives in a warmer client which will be better for father. (Have they no indoor heating?)
And, of course, there is no room for his wife in California, the state being too small, I guess. But if you can look past this malarkey, the plot does give way to a second and entirely different movie in the last quarter. Lucy Cooper and Bark Cooper spend a last day together before he is shipped off to California. They have a nice stroll in the park. They talk about old times. And despite losing their home, Mrs. Cooper tells Bark that he is a success and she wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for anything.
One thing leads to another, and they make their way to a grand hotel where they had spent their honeymoon. Word gets out to the manager and the manager then lavishes the works on them. Free champagne. Free dinner. And even the conductor of the orchestra changes the tune for them, something better suited for them to dance to. It’s a wonderful and heartwarming part of the movie, including up until the end where they say goodbye (perhaps for the last time) when she sees him off on his train to California.
Oh, and previously, Bark had called back home where his children were waiting dinner on them and told them that he and his wife were not only not coming home to dinner but they were an awful bunch of children.
This is one of those old movies that I’m glad I saw. But I wish a couple of those premise-points would have been smoothed over a bit. And the title doesn't seem to fit the movie in the least. Still, hearts were in the right place. Although this movie was apparently not a commercial success, director Leo McCarey would go on to direct Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s.