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Dodsworth Overview:

Dodsworth (1936) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn and Merritt Hulburd.

SYNOPSIS

A retired auto manufacturer travels to Europe with his vain, shallow wife. When she leaves him for a European baron, he is disconsolate until he meets a pretty young widow. A superb film adaptation of the Lewis novel handled well by Wyler and a big cast of Hollywood's best. Payne's screen debut.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion)

Dodsworth was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1990.

Academy Awards 1936 --- Ceremony Number 9 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorWalter HustonNominated
Best Supporting ActressMaria OuspenskayaNominated
Best Art DirectionRichard DayWon
Best DirectorWilliam WylerNominated
Best PictureSamuel Goldwyn ProductionsNominated
Best WritingSidney HowardNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Dodsworth BlogHub Articles:

Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton star in William Wyler’s production of “Dodsworth”

By Stephen Reginald on Jan 31, 2024 From Classic Movie Man

Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton star in William Wyler’s production of “Dodsworth” Dodsworth (1936) is an American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor, and David Niven. The screenplay by Sidney Howard is ba... Read full article

On Blu-ray: Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton in William Wyler's Dodsworth (1936)

By KC on May 6, 2020 From Classic Movies

I have revisited director William Wyler’s Dodsworth (1936), a film based on a Sinclair Lewis novel, many times over the years and the older I get, the richer it becomes. While any movie can change meaning with repeat viewings, this is a production that particularly reveals new facets with time... Read full article

Dodsworth (1936)

By Beatrice on Jul 22, 2013 From Flickers in Time

Dodsworth Directed by William Wyler 1936/USA The Samuel Goldwyn Company Repeat viewing #101 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die This intelligent drama is one of my favorite movies of any time.  I always forget just how much I love it until I see it again. Sam Dodsworth (Walter Huston) has ... Read full article

My Favorite Film: Walter Huston’s Dodsworth

By Wade Sheeler on Apr 12, 2013 From Pretty Clever Films

TCM will air Dodsworth & The Treasure of the Sierra Madre this Sunday, April 14, 2013 I was a weird kid. I could make a list a mile long “why.” But for now, the example I’ll give is the first two movie stars that I loved – Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. Gary Cooper, I’m sure you ge... Read full article

Dodsworth (1)

By Eric on Feb 27, 2013 From Classic Film Talk

Once in a while I see a film that surprises me. Dodsworth, from 1936 is one of these. It is easily one of the best films I’ve seen, all the more so because of it’s era. Movies from the 30s tend to have that overacted sentimentality, with sing-song speaking patterns from the women and bra... Read full article

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Quotes from Dodsworth:

Fran Dodsworth: Remember, I, I did make a home for you once, and I'll do it again, only you've got to let me have my fling now! Because you're simply rushing at old age, Sam, and I'm not ready for that yet.
Baroness Von Obersdorf: [to Fran] Have you thought how little happiness there can be for the... *old* wife... of a young husband?
Fran Dodsworth: Oh, you're hopeless - you haven't the mistiest notion of civilization.
Sam Dodsworth: Yeah, well maybe I don't think so much of it, though. Maybe clean hospitals, concrete highways, and no soldiers along the Canadian border come near my idea of civilization.
[last lines]
Fran Dodsworth: Are you going back to that washed-out expatriate in Naples?
Sam Dodsworth: Yes, and when I marry her, I'm going back to doing things.
Fran Dodsworth: Do you think you'll ever get me out of your blood?
Sam Dodsworth: Maybe not, but love has got to stop someplace short of suicide.
[Dodsworth runs to the gangplank and jumps on just as it is lowered away from the ship. The boat whistle sounds]
Steward: But the gentleman will miss the boat!
Fran Dodsworth: [shouting above the boat whistle] HE'S GONE ASHORE! HE'S GONE ASHORE!
Sam Dodsworth: Love has got to stop some place short of suicide.
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Facts from Dodsworth
David Mamet, in his book "Bambi vs. Godzilla", cites this film as one of his favorites.
The original Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theater and ran for 147 performances.
William Wyler spent a whole afternoon shooting the sequence where Fran (Ruth Chatterton) burns a letter from her husband; he wanted the letter to specifically blow gently along the terrace, stop for a moment, and then continue to flutter as the scene faded to black as a metaphor for Fran and Sam's failing marriage.
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1990.
At the time of filming, Mary Astor was going through a very public and very scandalous divorce from her husband, who used Astor's diary to prove that she had been having an affair with playwright George S. Kaufman. With the press constantly stalking her, she sometimes slept on the set to avoid confrontation. Many of the cast sided with Astor throughout the ordeal, including William Wyler, Samuel Goldwyn and Ruth Chatterton, who appeared as a character witness on Astor's behalf.
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