Themes: Innocence Lost, Mothers and Sons, Death of a Partner
Main Cast: Jean Simmons, Robert Preston, Pat Hingle, Aline MacMahon, Thomas Chalmers
Release Year: 1963
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
Plot
A seven year old and his mother cope with his father's death in an auto accident. His grieving mother is in denial, and the rush of well-meaning relatives fails to help the situation. The boy observes the reaction of adults to the death of his father, taking refuge in the world and games of children to escape the sadness. Mary (Jean Simmons) slowly accepts her husband's death and begins to adjust to the devastating loss. The story is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by James Agee. Robert Preston plays the friendly, ill-fated husband whose brother Ralph (Pat Hingle) is the local undertaker in this dramatic tear jerker. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Review
Although All the Way Home is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (as well as the subsequent Pulitzer-winning stage adaptation), it lacks the force of its original source and comes across as an effective tear jerker that lacks any truly deep insight or unusual drama; in other words, it's a well-acted but fairly standard issue story of how a beloved father's death affects those left behind. In James Agee's novel, the manner in which the author told the story, the way he revealed character and emotion through use of both words and subjectivity/objectivity, added an extra layer to what is at heart a rather ordinary plot; it used the plot to create something magical. Director Alex Segal and screenwriter Philip Reisman, Jr. have not been able to find a cinematic equivalent for the author's voice, and so only the story and the surface characteristics of its players is presented on screen. Again, it's a perfectly respectable little film, and definitely provokes an emotional response in viewers; one just wishes that it were richer and deeper. The cast is certainly not to blame, as Jean Simmons gives a stunning emotion-racked performance, and Robert Preston is simply aces as the kind of father that everyone wishes s/he had. Little Michael Kearney does quite well as the young boy left fatherless, and Aline MacMahon is terrific as the loving aunt who helps guide him in his troubles. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
John Cullum - Andrew; Ronnie Claire Edwards - Sally; Michael Kearney - Rufus Follet; John Henry Faulk - Walter Starr; Lylah Tiffany - Great-Great-Grandmaw; Mary Perry - Grand-Aunt Sadie; Georgia Simmons - Jessie; Edwin Wolfe - John Henry; Ferdie Hoffman - Father Jackson; David Huddleston
Credit
Jack Grossberg - Associate Producer, Michael Hertzberg - First Assistant Director, Alex Segal - Director, Carl Lerner - Editor, Bernard Green - Composer (Music Score), Alec Wilder - Composer (Music Score), Dick Smith - Makeup, Richard Sylbert - Production Designer, Boris Kaufman - Cinematographer, Joel Glickman - Production Manager, David Susskind - Producer, James Shields - Sound/Sound Designer, Philip Reisman, Jr. - Screenwriter, James Agee - Book Author, Tad Mosel - Play Author
