Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
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25% of critics liked it
(8 reviews) -
77% of users liked it
(333 ratings)
Greer Garson is dignity and integrity personified in the role of the real-life Edna Gladney. After several life experiences which rival daytime drama for unrelenting misery and melodrama, Edna marries flour-mill owner Sam Gladney (Walter Pidgeon). They have a baby, who dies shortly after Edna… More Greer Garson is dignity and integrity personified in the role of the real-life Edna Gladney. After several life experiences which rival daytime drama for unrelenting misery and melodrama, Edna marries flour-mill owner Sam Gladney (Walter Pidgeon). They have a baby, who dies shortly after Edna discovers that she can never have any other children. To give her life some meaning, Edna sets up the Texas Children's Home and Aid Society, which specializes in caring for illegitimate children and offering them for adoption. After her husband's death, Edna becomes a powerful political figure, succeeding in removing the stigma of illegitimacy by having that word stricken from all future Texas birth certificates; in this way, she honors the memory of her own half sister, who had killed herself upon discovering she was born out of wedlock. MGM thought enough of Blossoms in the Dust to film the production in Technicolor, a luxury usually reserved in 1941 for musicals or Westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Written By
- Anita Loos
- Genres
- Documentary, Drama, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1941 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Result is a sentimentally sugary flavor which also extends over the romantic portions of the film. There is no comedy relief.
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Tom Milne, Time Out
Pretty Technicolor, but the tearjerking is shameless.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
With lovely Greer Garson playing the leading role, the spirit of the story is maintained on a level generally above its frequent insipid spots.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
It was a noble deed and a noble effort to make a biography about a woman who was virtually unknown outside Texas, but the picture was long, overly teary, and didn't excite too many people at the box office, although it did make money.
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David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
Littered with stilted melodrama, wooden dialogue, and over-the-top courtroom showdowns.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Greer Garson
as Edna Gladney
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Walter Pidgeon
as Sam Gladney
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Felix Bressart
as Dr. Max Breslar
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Marsha Hunt
as Charlotte
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Fay Holden
as Mrs. Kahly
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Samuel S. Hinds
as Mr. Kahly
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Kathleen Howard
as Mrs. Keats
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George Lessey
as Mr. Keats
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William Henry
as Allan Keats
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Henry O'Neill
as Judge
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John Eldredge
as Damon McPherson
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Clinton Rosemond
as Zeke
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Theresa Harris
as Cleo
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Charles Arnt
as G. Harrison Hedger
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Cecil Cunningham
as Mrs. Gilworth
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Ann Morriss
as Mrs. Loring
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Richard Nichols
as Sammy
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Mary Taylor
as Helen
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Marc Lawrence I
as Bert La Verne
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Frank Darien
as Accountant
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Edwin Maxwell
as Board Member
- Almira Sessions
-
Will Wright
as Senator
