THE STRANGER'S RETURN (1933)

Celebrated for impressive if flawed epics (THE BIG PARADE/’25; NORTHWEST PASSAGE/’40; WAR AND PEACE/’56) and ambitious, if too merit-worthy artfilms (THE CROWD/’28; OUR DAILY BREAD/’34*), King Vidor is truly at his best in this largely over-looked, small-scale romance, a rural pastorale that stands comparison with some of the best observed work in the American cinematic canon. Even it’s title a beaut, perfectly capturing its lead character and unique spell. Miriam Hopkins (right between TROUBLE IN PARADISE and DESIGN FOR LIVING for Lubitsch) is at her least arch/most natural as a sophisticated East Coast divorcée, come for the first time to the MidWest family farm run by curmudgeonly 85 yr-old grandpa Lionel Barrymore, living with a passel of in-laws he barely tolerates. Might this delicate looking young woman, a free-spirited blood relative be the one to take over from him? Instinctively drawn to the place, and to country life (depicted in a good-natured harvest hazing rite Hopkins triumphs over), she’s equally drawn to neighboring farmer Franchot Tone, a college-educated/natural intellectual type, married (with kid) to the sweet gal he grew up with. Instant rapport for Tone & Hopkins undeniable, only their decency holding them back. Especially after a brief kiss in a running car that traces their growing passion in a brief unbidden roll thru the wheat fields. This short segment, one of the great erotic moments in film, a touchstone of visual & narrative economy; and dare one say it . . . taste. (A ‘privileged’ moment, partly stemming from novelist/co-scripter Philip Strong whose STATE FAIR, recently out earlier this year from Fox under Henry King, holds similar rural bona fides.) The film is not without a touch of blather to help round off the narrative (Barrymore has a spell of dementia to reveal all secrets), but not enough to mind, quickly pulling itself up to realize its sad, abrupt ending with clear eyes; grown-up and quietly devastating. Seasons flow on; the land must be turned.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Vidor’s next, the independently produced farmers’ commune story, OUR DAILY BREAD, with Soviet-style montage & left-wing politics, gets all the critical attention. Easier to write a deep-think academically acceptable thesis on.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/11/our-daily-bread-1933.html