Search - Our Town on DVD

Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1940 DVD Release: 04/03/2001 Format: DVD - Black and White,Pan and Scan Edition: Restored/Remastered SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 30 mins Studio: Focus Film Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Drama, Americana, Family Drama See Also: Our Town, Our Town, Our Town

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town is given the Hollywood treatment in this adaptation directed by Sam Wood featuring an evocative score by Aaron Copland and outstanding production design by William Cameron Menzies. Frank Craven is Mr. Morgan, the narrator and our guide through the small town of Grover's Corners in the more innocent American times of 1901, 1904, and 1913. Mr. Morgan chronicles the lives of a handful of Grover's Corners citizens, centering upon Emily Webb (Martha Scott), the daughter of the local newspaper editor (Guy Kibbee), and George Gibbs (William Holden), the son of the local doctor (Thomas Mitchell). Emily and George fall in love and the film details their difficult courtship, marriage, and tragic childbirth. The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, losing out to Rebecca. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

William Holden - George Gibbs
Martha Scott - Emily Webb
Fay Bainter - Mrs. Gibbs
Beulah Bondi - Mrs. Webb
Thomas Mitchell - Dr. Gibbs

Sol Lesser's production of Our Town, directed by Sam Wood and designed by William Cameron Menzies, comes to DVD in about the best presentation that the 1940 movie has had in decades -- which isn't to say that it's perfect, but it is superior to any of the totally unauthorized, public domain video or television presentations that the movie received in the 1980s. The producers claim to have used original negative elements as the source for their transfer, and image is clean and reasonably sharp -- it is not really comparable, however, in either consistency of contrast or sharpness, to such black-and-white movies of similar vintage as, say, Citizen Kane or The Magnificent Ambersons. What's more, one can spot a missing frame here and there, and the audio is compressed more than is ideal, which leads one to question what source there was on that front. Still, once one gets past those mild limitations on the source, the DVD is absorbing in its presentation; the movie was one of the most carefully, subtly, and elaborately designed of its period, and it is an intense viewing experience in what, for a change, is a better-than-decent source. The sound compression and the low volume level do take their toll on Aaron Copland's music, but it's possible to make adjustments for this problem, and overall, short of a major restoration effort (assuming that better elements do exist), this is as good as this special film is ever likely to look or sound. Focus Films' DVD opens automatically on a two-layer menu that allows one easy access to the film itself, and then a whole raft of bonus materials. The most closely associated with the movie itself is the 52-minute Lux Radio Theater audio dramatization of the screenplay, featuring the principal members of the movie's cast (and the happy ending permitted by author Thornton Wilder). Also present is the 1930 fantasy short film The Wizard's Apprentice, which was reportedly part of the inspiration for Walt Disney's Fantasia, and whose only connection to Our Town is as an earlier showcase of William Cameron Menzies' production technique. Perhaps the most interesting of the extras is the 1943 short film The Town, directed by Josef von Sternberg, which is a documentary about a typical Midwestern town, a sort of real-life statistical answer to Our Town with its own artfulness in its visuals and editing. There is a certain wartime veneer to the narrative, as one would expect, and it's almost as revealing here in what isn't depicted -- like very many non-white faces -- as what is, but the idea was a good one. Thus, this DVD is packed with material, having to do in greater or lesser degree with key elements and themes resounding in the main feature -- it's rather a bargain overall, and difficult to resist. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide