''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a 1935 American comedy-drama film adaptation of the 1933

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

play of the same name. Directed by

Clarence Brown Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he ...

, the film stars

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' ( ...

and features

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931 ...

Eric Linden Eric Linden (September 15, 1909 – July 14, 1994) was an American actor, primarily active during the 1930s. Early years Eric Linden was born in New York City to Phillip and Elvira (née Lundborg) Linden, both of Swedish descent. His father ...

Cecilia Parker Cecilia Parker (April 26, 1914 – July 25, 1993) was a Canadian-born American film actress. She was best known for portraying Marian Hardy, the sister of Andy Hardy in eleven of the Andy Hardy film series. Early life and career Cecilia ...

Spring Byington Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of '' December Bride''. She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who appeared i ...

, and a young

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

. Rooney stars as Richard in MGM's musical remake '' Summer Holiday'' (1948).

Plot

June 1906 in an unnamed New England town. 17-year-old Richard Miller is about to graduate and go to Yale. He already feels worldly wise, thanks to reading

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada * Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village * Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton * Shaw, Swindon, a suburb of Swindon ...

Wilde Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include: In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre * '' Wilde'' a 1997 biographical film about Oscar Wilde * Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor * Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canad ...

, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam,

Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

and

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

tracts. He adores the neighborhood girl Muriel McComber, but she is afraid of being kissed. Richard’s father, newspaper editor Nat Miller, is a kind, wise man. Richard has three siblings: older brother Arthur home from Yale; sister, Mildred; and Tommy, the youngest. Uncle Sid and Cousin Lily live with the family. Sid keeps proposing to Lily, but she refuses, ostensibly because he once got involved with a bad woman; his not-so-secret drinking is the real problem. Sid travels to his new job in

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

. At graduation, Richard drops his valedictory speech and Nat reads it. Nat turns a burst of applause into a final acclamation, forestalling Richard’s planned Marxist call to arms. After the ceremony, Nat asks if Richard’s conscience will allow him to drive the family’s

Stanley Steamer The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer of steam cars; it operated from 1902 to 1924. The cars made by the company were colloquially called Stanley Steamers, although several different models were produced. Early history ...

. Of course, he is thrilled and asks Muriel to come along. On the morning of the Fourth, the street explodes in fireworks. The fired Uncle Sid reappears, but says that he has the day off. Lily hints that she would accept a proposal now. Sid doesn’t act, and Lily is hurt. Muriel's father storms in, accusing Richard of corrupting his daughter's morals. He gives Nat the letters and a farewell letter from Muriel, then threatens to pull his advertising, and storms out. “Samples of the new freedom,” Nat says, showing Richard’s letters to Sid, who reads aloud a stanza from Swinburne’s ''Laus Veneris''. He stops and they both read silently. “Hail and Hallelujah!” Nat whispers. However, he is truly concerned. He tells Richard about Macomber’s visit; Shocked, Richard reassures his father: He plans to marry Muriel. When Richard reads the letter, he is heartbroken: “Geewhillickers!” he sobs, and bursts into tears. Mildred goes to a

box social Box social is a term for a social event that was widely used in the early 1900s with varying definitions in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. American usage In the U.S. state of Vermont the tradition is that women decorate a car ...

, Nat and Sid go to a men’s club picnic, the women go to a hen party, and lovelorn Richard walks and walks. Arthur’s friend Wint asks Richard to go on a double date with “a couple of swift babies” that night. The family reassembles at supper. Sid, who was given back his old job at Nat's newspaper, is drunk again and can barely stand. At the table, he has everyone laughing; but when he goes up for a nap, Lily says that they all encourage him — and maybe they should not. Richard blames women for driving men to drink and marches out to meet Wint. In a hotel bar, Wint has disappeared and Richard is sitting with Belle, a floozy. His innocence is painfully obvious. At Belle’s nod, the bartender slips something into Richard’s

sloe gin fizz A "fizz" is a mixed drink variation on the older sours family of cocktail. Its defining features are an acidic juice (such as lemon or lime) and carbonated water. It typically includes gin or rum as its alcoholic ingredient. History The first ...

. A customer tells the bartender that Richard is underage, he throws him out. When he learns he is the son of a newspaper editor, he throws Belle out. Richard comes home drunk and miserable, declaiming: "But he does not win who plays with Sin In the secret House of Shame." Horrified, Essie assumes the worst. Sid takes charge. On the next evening, Muriel and Richard meet. She explains that her father made her write the letter. They finally kiss and Richard sighs, “Gosh, I Love You.” Richard returns home, transported. "That’s love, not liquor", Nat reassures Essie. Nat and Richard have s serious talk, about the fact that "no woman wants to give her love to a stupid drunk" and about women like Belle, "whited sepulchers" who can "ruin your whole life."This is a reference to

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

, which was still a devastating, deadly and essentially incurable scourge when this film was made. It would be more than a decade before the widespread availability of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from '' Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum usin ...

after World War II made cures possible. Nat gives him a punishment that is no hardship—go to Yale and stick with it. Sid and Lily are in the swing, drinking lemonade (Sid spikes it.) Mildred and Art are walking with their sweethearts. Macomber is reconciled. "We are completely surrounded by love," Nat says. Richard kisses his parents and goes out to gaze blissfully at the moon. Nat quotes the Rubaiyat "Ah, that Spring should vanish with the rose...Spring isn’t everything", he says to Essie. "There's a lot to be said for Autumn.. and Winter, if you're together."

Cast

as Sidney Miller *

as Nat Miller *

Aline MacMahon Aline Laveen MacMahon (May 3, 1899 – October 12, 1991) was an American actress. Her Broadway stage career began under producer Edgar Selwyn in ''The Mirage'' during 1920. She made her screen debut in 1931 and worked extensively in film, thea ...

as Lily Davis *

as Richard 'Dick' Miller *

as Muriel McComber *

as Essie Miller *

as Tommy Miller *

Charley Grapewin Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, a writer, and a stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably port ...

as Mr. Dave MacComber *

Frank Albertson Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) and ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'' (1960). Early life Albertson was a nat ...

as Arthur Miller *

Edward J. Nugent Edward James Nugent (February 7, 1904 – January 3, 1995) was an American film and stage actor. Biography Born in 1904 in New York City, Nugent appeared in more than 80 films between 1928 and 1937. He subsequently had a second acting career ...

as Wint Selby *

Bonita Granville Bonita Gloria Granville Wrather (February 2, 1923 – October 11, 1988) was an American actress and producer. The daughter of vaudevillians, Granville began her career on the stage at age three. She initially began as a child actress, making h ...

as Mildred Miller *

Helen Flint Helen Flint (January 14, 1898 – September 9, 1967) was an American actress. Flint debuted as a member of the chorus in the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' when she was 17. Her work on Broadway included more than 20 productions between 1921 and 1946. Fl ...

as Belle * Helen Freeman as Miss Hawley * Tom Dugan as George, the bartender (uncredited) *

Eily Malyon Eily Malyon (born Eily Sophie Lees-Craston; 30 October 1879 – 26 September 1961) was an English character actress from about 1900 to the 1940s. She had a stage career in Britain, Australia and America before moving to Hollywood to perfo ...

as Norah, the Miller's servant (uncredited) * Edward LeSaint as Minister (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ah Wilderness 1935 films 1930s historical comedy films American black-and-white films American films based on plays American historical comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films Films based on works by Eugene O'Neill Films directed by Clarence Brown Films scored by Herbert Stothart Films set in 1906 Films set in Connecticut Films shot in Massachusetts Independence Day (United States) films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Edward Ward (composer) 1930s English-language films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links