Greer Garson, one of the biggest stars at the time Mrs. Parkington was released in 1944, gets to play two roles here: the 83-year-old aging matriarch Susie Parkington of an upper crust New York family and her younger self, married to the charming but irascible mining tycoon Major Augustus Parkington (Walter Pidgeon), told in a series of flashbacks.
The story set in the present time (1938) introduces us to Susie and her arrogant, money-grubbing family members including daughter Alice, the Duchess of Brancourt (Gladys Cooper), granddaughters Helen (Helen Freeman) and Madeleine (Lee Patrick)-daughters of Susie's long deceased son Herbert, grandson-in-law Amory (Edward Arnold) married to Helen, and their two adult children, Jane (Frances Rafferty) and Jack (Dan Duryea).
The main problem with the depiction of these family members is that they are all a very unlikable bunch with really no redeeming qualities. I presume they were drawn that way to emphasize the contrasting goodness of Susie who is entrusted with deciding who ends up with the inheritance (the Parkington family fortune which we later learn is $31 million, approximately $650 million in today's money).
A crisis develops when Jane's fiancée Ned Talbot (Tom Drake) who has been working for dad Amory, reveals that the father will soon be arrested for facilitating a massive Ponzi scheme. Jane is in denial and sends Ned away, siding with her father, who attempts suicide, only to be stopped by Madeline's new husband Al Swann (Rod Cameron).
The flashback brings us all the way back to 1875 to Leaping Frog, Nevada where Susie helps her mother run a boarding house. The Major pays his workers double due to the danger of working in the mines. A mine explosion claims the life of Susie's mom who had the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps out of guilt as well as a "love at first sight" deep attraction, the Major proposes marriage to Susie and whisks her away to New York City.
Agnes Moorehead, in one of her best roles as Baroness Aspasia Conti (one of Augustus's former mistresses) shows Susie the ropes and helps her to navigate the high society landscape.
Susie's regards her marriage to the Major as a "fairy tale come true." Indeed, he appears to be a model husband, genial and always forgiving of Susie's inexperience. But eventually a dark side emerges when a fair number of the Major's Wall Street pals fail to show up at a dinner bash he's throwing to celebrate Susie's pregnancy--and he decides to keep a blacklist eventually committing to ruining their careers.
When Susie gets wind of this, she leaves him with the children. They eventually reconcile. Later Susie goes into a deep depression upon the death of her son (which is never shown on screen)-just like the death of the Major which is only alluded to early in the picture (leaving these scenes out may not have been the best of choices)..
The Major's affair with Lady Nora Ebbsworth (Tala Birell) in England brings Susie out of her funk and at the behest of Aspasia heads there to save her marriage. It's the Prince of Wales (Cecil Kellaway)-later to become Edward VIII, King of England-who saves the day by ordering Lady Nora to take a job as an assistant to his mother, Queen Victoria.
When Susie back in the present time decides to cover Amory's debt by giving away the family inheritance (much to the chagrin of her daughter and grandchildren), she confidently asserts "that's what the Major would have done." Perhaps Susie wants to forget about all the bad things her husband put her through and holds on to an idealized image to keep her functioning adroitly in the present.
Susie proves to be a little too much of an all-knowing, prescient character who can do no wrong. And the family members are the opposite: the previously alluded to moneygrubbers.
Nonetheless Mrs. Parkington (the film) has enough twists and turns in a plot that covers two centuries, to keep your interest.
The story set in the present time (1938) introduces us to Susie and her arrogant, money-grubbing family members including daughter Alice, the Duchess of Brancourt (Gladys Cooper), granddaughters Helen (Helen Freeman) and Madeleine (Lee Patrick)-daughters of Susie's long deceased son Herbert, grandson-in-law Amory (Edward Arnold) married to Helen, and their two adult children, Jane (Frances Rafferty) and Jack (Dan Duryea).
The main problem with the depiction of these family members is that they are all a very unlikable bunch with really no redeeming qualities. I presume they were drawn that way to emphasize the contrasting goodness of Susie who is entrusted with deciding who ends up with the inheritance (the Parkington family fortune which we later learn is $31 million, approximately $650 million in today's money).
A crisis develops when Jane's fiancée Ned Talbot (Tom Drake) who has been working for dad Amory, reveals that the father will soon be arrested for facilitating a massive Ponzi scheme. Jane is in denial and sends Ned away, siding with her father, who attempts suicide, only to be stopped by Madeline's new husband Al Swann (Rod Cameron).
The flashback brings us all the way back to 1875 to Leaping Frog, Nevada where Susie helps her mother run a boarding house. The Major pays his workers double due to the danger of working in the mines. A mine explosion claims the life of Susie's mom who had the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps out of guilt as well as a "love at first sight" deep attraction, the Major proposes marriage to Susie and whisks her away to New York City.
Agnes Moorehead, in one of her best roles as Baroness Aspasia Conti (one of Augustus's former mistresses) shows Susie the ropes and helps her to navigate the high society landscape.
Susie's regards her marriage to the Major as a "fairy tale come true." Indeed, he appears to be a model husband, genial and always forgiving of Susie's inexperience. But eventually a dark side emerges when a fair number of the Major's Wall Street pals fail to show up at a dinner bash he's throwing to celebrate Susie's pregnancy--and he decides to keep a blacklist eventually committing to ruining their careers.
When Susie gets wind of this, she leaves him with the children. They eventually reconcile. Later Susie goes into a deep depression upon the death of her son (which is never shown on screen)-just like the death of the Major which is only alluded to early in the picture (leaving these scenes out may not have been the best of choices)..
The Major's affair with Lady Nora Ebbsworth (Tala Birell) in England brings Susie out of her funk and at the behest of Aspasia heads there to save her marriage. It's the Prince of Wales (Cecil Kellaway)-later to become Edward VIII, King of England-who saves the day by ordering Lady Nora to take a job as an assistant to his mother, Queen Victoria.
When Susie back in the present time decides to cover Amory's debt by giving away the family inheritance (much to the chagrin of her daughter and grandchildren), she confidently asserts "that's what the Major would have done." Perhaps Susie wants to forget about all the bad things her husband put her through and holds on to an idealized image to keep her functioning adroitly in the present.
Susie proves to be a little too much of an all-knowing, prescient character who can do no wrong. And the family members are the opposite: the previously alluded to moneygrubbers.
Nonetheless Mrs. Parkington (the film) has enough twists and turns in a plot that covers two centuries, to keep your interest.