When Henry Hathaway put his mind to it, he could endow a film with lyrical naturalism -- "Niagara" and "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" come to mind. This qualifies as such a film, although it has a 50's feel that reminds one of Disney, with an aura of respectable hominess and contemporality. (Apparently it is set no sooner than 1945 because we see a jeep in the film, although the surroundings seem to be more primitive than that) This is a pretty good story about the failure of a man and a woman to communicate their feelings, or to master nature, both inner and in the natural world. Mama Bear Susan Hayward needs to nurture and protect her son, but master the controlled nature of a farm (the boy must even master the realities of cleaning a rabbit hutch, and she, shodding a Clydesdale!) Steven Boyd gives up the controlled life of a woodmill to care for her. Love is incidental, but he has a law of the jungle mentality which puts them in direct conflict over the boy.
Reviewers think it incredible that Hayward would ever live happily ever after with such a brute, but this is a story of archetypes and natural impulses, such as the desire for love and kinship that transcends rationality. I find the performances ultimately gentle and believable in conveying this fact.
Reviewers think it incredible that Hayward would ever live happily ever after with such a brute, but this is a story of archetypes and natural impulses, such as the desire for love and kinship that transcends rationality. I find the performances ultimately gentle and believable in conveying this fact.