Make Way for Tomorrow

Make Way for Tomorrow (Criterion #505).
1937 Paramount Pictures, now owned by Universal Pictures.
Starring: Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter, Thomas Mitchell, Porter Hall, Barbara Read, Maurice Moscovitch, Minna Gombell
Director: Leo McCarey
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Leo McCarey directed this Depression-era drama in the same year that he also made The Awful Truth, one of the all time great screwball comedies. McCarey won the Oscar for Best Director for the latter film, but he couldn't resist remarking "Thanks, but you gave it to me for the wrong picture." Orson Welles, in a conversation with Peter Bogdanovich, commented that Make Way for Tomorrow "would make a stone cry".

The bank has foreclosed on the house that Barkley and Lucy Cooper (Moore & Bondi), a couple in their late 60s, have owned while bringing up their five children. The Coopers knew about their money problems, but did not act on them, and they instead waited for things to turn around for them. Ma and Pa turn to their children for help, but none of them can take both of their parents in together. Barkley moves in with his daughter Nellie (Gombell) and her husband Harvey (Hall), while Lucy is taken in by son George (Mitchell) and his spouse Anita (Bainter). The new living situations prove stressful for everyone involved.

Later on, the plan for the Cooper children is for one of them to take in both Ma and Pa so they can spend the rest of their lives together. Barkley is experiencing health problems, and it's believed that he would be better off in a warmer climate, but Lucy decides to move into a home for older women, which means the separation between she and Barkley will likely turn into a permanent one. Still, the Coopers still have one more day to spend together before moving into an uncertain future apart.

This isn't the most depressing film ever made, but it's close. Highly recommended, though.

P.S. Dear Criterion, please consider releasing My Son John if you ever want to issue another Leo McCarey film. While you're at it, I hear Duck Soup just might be available!