I was appalled at the depressing nature of this movie. Let's all remember that just because someone wrote this down, it is just one person's view of things that can happen. Drinking too much, jobs you hate, lack of education, a bored beautiful wife, are you kidding me? That has been going on forever!
BTW he had all this crap happening in a tiny section of that subdivision. that seems weird.
If you recall after WW2 and the guys came home, there was NO PLACE for families to live. that is how these subdivided areas came to be.
it wasn't so every family could have such a great life, it was so builders could make a bundle on cheap housing. Instead of apartment living, it was tiny houses.
And what was up with the gate that opened into the person's backyard? It was like living in a dorm!
I found the movie completely unrealistic. I was born in 1949 so by 1957 I can remember how it was.
My parents built a big house out in the country and when I was 9 decided to move into town. So we lived in a tiny house next door to friends who were in transition also. There was a lot of depending on each other because none of the wives worked.
And so were all very close. But we then moved to a more typical subdivision and were not in each other's back yard so much. and there was privacy to yell if you wanted to.
And I imagine crap went on in some families, but most likely it was no worse than it is today!
To say that the 50s were not a picnic is true! Were the 40s so great with all the guys gone to war?
And any time you want to go back to the 50s-60s "innocence" don't forget about the Korean Conflict --then the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK etc. That was all on the heels of 1957 on...there is no decade that is pretty.
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gbennett5
10 years ago
The film is NOT "unrealistic." "Father Knows Best" IS. Good grief, don't
you recognize a good film when you see one?? Martin Ritt and the
screenwriters were extremely brave to reveal layers of a decade, while
that decade was STILL going on! I can't think of another film that so
shows an era so astutely that was FILMED IN THAT DECADE! The film is
fresh, brilliantly acted and feels more like something Paul Thomas Anderson
did in, say, the '90's rather than the film's own time period.
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lakurfiss
9 years ago
Completely agree. This film peels back the veneer of that happy suburban life in a very bold fashion. I can't stop thinking about it, and am glad it is now available on youtube. A true underrated lost classic. Martin Ritt never made any junk movies.
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