Much of Henry James' adult life was spent in Britain, though he was born in the United States. So, it's not surprising that this expatriate would write a short story about an expat who returns to America after more than three decades abroad.
Spencer Brydon (Fritz Weaver) spent 35 years away from America. Now he's returned to the States to look after two properties he owns there...one of which is his former home. In the home, he looks for the spirit of who he might have been had he made other life choices...perhaps a captain of industry instead of a man who lived a life of leisure.
This story is part of the series of short stories made by the National Endowment for the Humanities and which were shown on PBS television. As such, it had an introduction (by Henry Fonda) and is pretty difficult to find...I was able to find it and a few other short stories from the series on YouTube. And, like the other short stories I've seen in this series, it's very stark...with little incidental music and a rather somber tone.
So is it any good? Yes, but as I mentioned above, it's very somber and perhaps too much so. Now I'm not suggesting the Sesame Street Muppets should have done the acting instead (after all, it is PBS), but it lacked life and didn't need to. Overall, it's the very definition of 'okay'.
