"Our Town" is an old fashioned, overly quaint play that probably belongs on the stage. But this 1940 film version directed by Sam Wood probably does as good a job as anyone else could at bringing it to life on screen. And the fact that it debuted on the eve of WWII gives its simplistic, misty-eyed attitudes about small-town American life an added poignancy. Now, in Trump America, it feels like an artifact of a previous epoch. Do towns like this even exist anymore? Rural desperation and a conservative gun culture have pretty much decimated the charms of small-town America today.An extremely young William Holden plays the male lead, and it's distracting to see him trying to play a character so much younger than he probably was when he made this movie. The same is somewhat true of his love interest, Martha Scott, as well, though she fares better, probably because she had the advantage of performing in the stage version first. The better performances come from a bevy of seasoned character actors like Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell, and Guy Kibbee."Our Town" was nominated for six Academy Awards, but won none of them: Outstanding Production, Best Actress (Scott), Best B&W Art Direction, Best Original Score and Scoring (Aaron Copland was nominated for both categories; I've never understood how a score could be eligible for both), and Best Sound Recording.Grade: B+

Grovers Corners, New Hampshire is a small town. The stage manager describes the town and the story of the everyday people. There's a stage manager because this is from the Thornton Wilder play. It maintains its playlike narrative. It starts in 1901 and it's a bucolic scene. It's very much a Norman Rockwell existence. George and Emily are neighbors who finds each other endearing. Then she gets married, has kids, lives and dies.The movie delivers life that is very ordinary and very idealized. That's kind of the point. The point is to see a simple life although it does get very slow at times. The big thing is the third act. In the play, she dies and the audience learns to live everyday to the fullest. It's poignancy is somewhat lost by the fact that Emily has to come back to life in the movie. I've never found "It's all a dream" ever a good idea in a story. This one really strips some of the power from the ending. I wonder if she truly lives everyday to the fullest after the dream. It would be better if the movie tries to center on that point rather than forcing a happy ending.

i'm a big movie fan and until today, i had no idea that this film version of the stage play even existed. i did not enjoy this at all. i'm surprised this movie was made during this time period because of the manner and style of the play. this is not a play that could be be easily translated to film and this version proves it. the rhythm of the film is uneven as is the tone of the film. the "dream sequence" is confusing and not true to the play. but maybe the audience of that time would have found the death of a main character too depressing, but it's an important part of the play and in the movie, that whole sequence is just bad and hokey. it's actually hard to describe exactly what's wrong with this movie, it's just not good. it took me a minute to recognize william holden! i think that's the youngest i've seen him in a movie. i'm glad his acting improved so much. most of the acting was just fine, but a lot of the emotions and dialog seemed staged and forced. again, i think the problem lies with trying to turn this type of a play, into a film. it just doesn't work.

Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" is considered an American classic and it's a play that is often discussed in schools here in the States. Because of this, I was somewhat familiar with the story and remember disliking it. However, it seems that this was because instead of watching the play being performed or watching this movie (that was adapted by Wilder for the screen), my class in middle school read the play--the worst possible way to understand and appreciate it. Now, 35 years later, I finally got around to seeing it like it should be seen--and I am glad I did.This is an interesting play because of its cast. In addition to a lot of familiar supporting actors such as Guy Kibbee, Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell and Frank Craven (who assisted Wilder with the screenplay), the film marks the debut of Martha Scott and William Holden. I really appreciate how many of the actors are the same folks who starred in the Broadway play and how the studio let Wilder keep control of his script--this, unfortunately, is pretty rare. Too often, a studio buys a play and then completely changes it--showing utter contempt for the actors and playwright.As far as the story goes, it's quite peculiar in style. The closest film I can think of like this is the film version of Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude"--but the O'Neill play didn't really work well on screen. Both featured characters speaking their thoughts out loud to the audience--an unusual innovation to say the least. Another innovation in "Our Town" is having the character of the Mr. Morgan (Craven) also acting as the narrator. Because of this unusual style and the leisurely pace of the film, it's one that might lose viewers who don't have the patience to stick with this one. Don't give up--especially when the film gets depressing--it's a delight and the payoff is definitely worth the long wait.Impressively written, full of wonderful performances and expertly directed, this one is well worth seeing. And, fortunately, since it's in the public domain, it's downloadable from the link on IMDb. Give it a chance--it's a delightful piece of Americana.