Main Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Eric Linden, Aline MacMahon, Cecilia Parker, Mickey Rooney
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
Plot
Playwright Eugene O'Neill's only comedy, Ah, Wilderness! was filmed by MGM in 1935. Impressionable turn-of-the-century lad Eric Linden, whose knowledge of the ways of the world has come from French novels, is anxious to taste life to the fullest. Linden's father Lionel Barrymore sternly advises the boy to be good and be careful, while Barrymore's shiftless, bibulous brother-in-law Wallace Beery (replacing MGM's first choice, W.C. Fields) encourages Linden to get out, get drunk and get...you know what. After a frightening encounter with lady of the evening Helen Flint (a surprisingly frank characterization for a Production Code film), Linden runs home, nursing a monster hangover the next day. The boy eventually accepts the sedate affections of his childhood sweetheart Jean Parker, while a chastened Beery promises to mend his ways--and Barrymore decides to be more of a father and less of an autocrat to his son. Ah, Wilderness would be musicalized (and bowdlerized) by MGM as the 1947 film Summer Holiday. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
There's an aching melancholy beneath the surface of Ah, Wilderness!, the wistful and charming, if not completely successful adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill comedy. Director Clarence Brown has unfortunately coddled the material a bit much, with the result that some of the acerbic edges have been softened in favor of a nostalgic glow, and -- despite a pretty terrific sequence involving Richard's run-in with a looser member of the fair sex -- has applied a patina of good taste that dampens some of the fun. The material itself has also dated somewhat, most damagingly in terms of Uncle Sid's "amusing" alcoholism; many will also find the Miller family a tad too enthusiastically wholesome. These caveats aside, there's still a good deal to enjoy here, especially in the performances of a nicely understated Lionel Barrymore, a sensitive Spring Byington, and a moving Aline MacMahon. Eric Linden is not quite up to carrying as much of the film as he is called upon to do, but overall he's fine and acquits himself respectfully. As the younger brother, Mickey Rooney goes a bit overboard, but he's more than bearable. As befits an MGM film of the era, production values are top-notch. If Wilderness could stand a little more wildness, it's still an entertaining and touching little film. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film holds the dubious distinction of being the first to advertise in trade papers for Academy Award nominations, depicting a cartoon of MGM's Leo the Lion holding an Oscar and proudly stating "You've given so much, Leo ... Get ready to receive!"[1] Despite, or perhaps because of the ad campaign, the film failed to receive a single nomination.
^Wiley, Mason; Bona, Damien; MacColl, Gail (1996). Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN0345400534.
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