Director: William Wyler
Year Released: 1936
Rating: 3.5
Exemplary - and no doubt little seen - early work by Wyler about a husband and wife who go abroad to enjoy the husband's retirement only to realize that the two are at different stages in their lives: he's content with settling in, having grandchildren and enjoying a quiet life (shown by him drinking coffee at an outside diner, 'observing' instead of 'participating') while she wants to dabble with younger men and gallivant around Paris, going through her own midlife crisis. The source novel comes from Sinclair Lewis, and the screenplay was by Sidney Harris, whose adaptation condenses the story without foregoing the key character development; of course, Walter Huston is no slouch either - his sympathetic (and sometimes a little too forgiving) title character gives his wayward wife one too many chances before moving on (the film does not punish her for her actions without just cause - Huston's final dismissal of her is perfectly deserved considering what he had to endure). After so many films about runaround husbands who still think of themselves as young and timeless, here's a man who realizes he's old and deals with it. This is one of the best films from the 30's.
