Our Town

I read and enjoyed the play Our Town when I was in my teens and later I was lucky enough to see Alan Alda play the Stage Manager in London. I saw it twice, in fact. Until now I have never seen the film adaptation and on the plus side we get Frank Craven reprising the role of his life on screen but against that we also get to see a tangible town which is, of course, the ultimate irony. On stage Wilder was asking audiences to use their imagination and Frank Craven conjured up the town with just a sawhorse and a pair of stepladders. The thing is you can do that in a theatre but by definition film demands concrete images so that at one fell swoop half the magic is dissipated. There are, however, compensations by which I mean the cast and Wilder's deceptively simple poetic writing. Although I could have used a better print I will cherish the one I have.

A digitally-restored print of OUR TOWN aired on TCM yesterday. Later, it was the most searched title on the TCM database. I watched it this morning, and it is easy to see how much this style of storytelling influenced a lot of Hollywood product that came after it in the 1940s and 1950s. It stands in stark contrast to films that were being produced before this time. It is somber, meditative. Usually, the motion picture industry prided itself on delivering saccharine entertainment. OUR TOWN is not that sweet. It retains its wholesome value, but does not dress simple Americana up with a festive bow. A lot of that is due to Thornton Wilder's original writing, which the filmmakers were wise to honor and not alter too much.

Having first seen this movie as a small child on TV I was amazed at the fact that Emily really did die in the play. It seemed to me that it was all the more moving that she did live as this movie was done prior to World War II and was probably intended as an affirmation of life. More than that it was so delicately handled and all the characters so meticulously outlined that the message of America as it was pre-war and the joyous lives of all Americans - was more the intent. A wonderful movie and I wish we had more of them.

Would that , however briefly, fleetingly, and insufficiently, the past was available . Available to undo, redress, and remorsefully retrieve the myriad cruelties and omisssions so excruciatingly beyond our access. The love unexpressed or not fully set forth. The priceless charm of those moments, personnae, and occasions that are fiendishly now irretrieveable and not wholly recalled. Thorton Wilder laid a right-uppercut properly, brutally and unforgivably upon us in OUR TOWN.

This film, a Thornton Wilder play, is about how many of the unnoticed details of day-to-day life are sweet and, in fact, ARE life. The Aaron Copeland music sprinkled through the film is lovely and fits the mood perfectly. The contrived ending (not part of the stage play) does not help the film, but by no means does it ruin it, either.

"Our Town" was like a dramatized sermon about the fleeting nature of life and the need to appreciate every moment to the fullest. It depicted life in a small town, relying heavily on narration. I was astonished, that such a flimsy (though charming) movie should boast a Thornton Wilder script and an Aaron Copland score. Despite its flimsiness, this movie is infinitely more lovable than similar movies, like "It's a Wonderful Life". It was blissfully devoid of drama, its mood was poetic, pleasing to the eye and ear, the dialogue fairly articulate and intelligent. The most poignant line was a girl saying to her mother: "Mom, am I pretty enough to Interest anyone?"

Thornton Wilder's play put to the screen, well almost. A laid back look at the lives, trials and tribulations of the citizens of a small New England town. Of course, the point is that each life tells a story. The acting seems a little wooden and most of the dialogue monotone. Still yet this is an oldie that will pull at your heart strings. You also examine how important it is to live your life everyday. The cast includes William Holden, Martha Scott, Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi and narrated by Frank Craven. Grab a cup of coffee and prop your feet up...and enjoy a classic.