MovieChat Forums > H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941) Discussion > Boston Isn't Exactly The Wilderness

Boston Isn't Exactly The Wilderness

posted 11 years ago by joeparkson
3 replies | jump to latest

I don't understand why Marvin was unwilling to move to Boston. She acted as if she could not have a career in Boston. While it's true that New York is far larger and more cosmopolitan than Boston, even in the 1920s and 1930s, Boston had many opportunities for career women.

Gibbs College, founded in Providence RI in 1911, specialized in educating women in design, business administration, criminal justice, health care as well as upper level secretarial work. It had satellite campuses in Boston and NYC. There wouldn't have been a satellite campus in Boston had there not been opportunities for highly trained and educated women in Boston.

There have always been women in Boston in high level jobs and even some who built their own businesses.

Absurdity: A Statement or belief inconsistent with my opinion.

[–] mnbush 11 years ago

Your point about Boston is correct. However, I think she didn't think she wanted to fit into his world which happened to be Boston. (could have been Philadelphia of parts of New York or anywhere where old families had established themselves).

This film was very progressive for it being 1941, since Hedy's character wanted to be a career woman. Mr. Pulham never really understood that. He just considered her 'too different from him'. He was even content to give up his self described 'exciting' job in advertising to take over his father's business - because that is the way he was raised.

A point was also made that Hedy's character was an immigrant. I think this was meant to explain her desire to be a career woman, even though now, no one needs an explanation for that choice.

Very interesting film, but quite bittersweet.

[–] bon22 11 years ago

It wasn't the issue of Boston per se. Rather, it was that his family was in Boston & Hedy felt his mother would stifle her because Hedy wasn't one of 'their crowd'. Remember the mother made the joke that Illinois was Ohio? That remark was a dig at Hedy & because Hedy was a foreigner, she didn't get it. Hedy knew that Robert Young was overly enmeshed in his family & she'd always be the outsider. So, that's why Hedy rejected Boston.

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

True, and she couldn't be herself. Even Pulham and his sister were under the scrutiny of the staff who would report any questionable behavior to the mother.

Marvin was not used to having to answer to anyone so she wasn't going to start living under the spotlight in Boston. She also got to see what life there would be like. Pulham was a different person in Boston than he was in New York. Despite his many promises he downplayed their relationship to his family.

Had she stayed with him in Boston she would have come to resent him and would have lived a miserable life. Still I think he made the wrong choice by not choosing to live his own life. He was on a track from before birth and seemed to be perfectly content living that way. He did question it for a time but realized that's what he wanted.

His marriage was the same way. They were kind of pushed together and because they were on parallel tracks, got married, had kids, and lived their ho hum lives. I enjoyed the movie but I hated the fact they seemed to condone that kind of life. Sure, once in it, he did the right thing but I wish he would have realized that he and his wife wasted a lot of valuable time co-existing.

She only decided to stop taking him for granted when she sensed trouble. His plea for a change mattered very little so I have to believe after their trip, once he gets back on track their lives will return to what it once was. I truly believe that is what happens to a lot of people. They merely exist and wonder why they are so miserable.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]