Four Sons

A beautiful evocation of a time that never was, and a tender vision of family life that proves conclusively, along with How Green Was My Valley, that beneath the macho facade, Ford was really a big softie at heart.

Ford's silent melodrama alternates between the tragic and the comic--an occasionally uneven transition. Ford settles in on the mother figure though, offering her only respect and empathy as a suffering, yet faithful Catholic. On a side note, I also loved the way the little kids were so excited about honoring Mother Bernle on her birthday--it seems to create quite a disjunction with how the young think about the old these days.