The Silver Cord

I really felt the movie was ahead of its time. The one potential daughter-in-law was such a strong, career oriented woman. She knew what she wanted and was diplomatic but firm with the over-bearing mother-in-law to be. The mother's role was played extremely well (you just loved to hate her). Her need to control her son's lives was neurotically evil. If you've ever been in a relationship where you've been judged and found lacking (and everybody involved knew it) this may hit too close to home. It's been years since I saw this movie and I remember thinking that this plot and dialog would work in a 50's or 60's movie. It is difficult to watch because of the mother and sons' dynamic but I would love to watch it again. I keep hoping to find it on one of the old movie channels but so far no luck. Attempts to buy it were also futile (I don't believe it's on tape or DVD).

Ugh....this movie gave me the creeps. Like another reviewer, I have only seen it once and have never seen it repeated on AMC,TCM or late night film fests. But, oh do I remember it. A very unpleasant but enthralling film about mother love gone bad. Laura Hope Crewes is the epitome of evil and it is hard to believe that she went on to be Aunt PittyPat in GWTW. She tears up the screen with her portrayal of the mother obsessed by her "love" for her sons. Eric Linden, a rather weak actor, is perfect as the one son.....Joel McCrae is ok as the other, but, since he is usually a man of action, you hope he will pull out a pistol and blow Crewes' brains out. When one remembers a film several years after seeing it but one time, it must be recommended. You will either be attracted or repelled by this little gem

Long before the Freudian craze in the forties thrillers ,"the silver cord" depicted a terrifying mother/children relationship where mom is in love with her boys (and at least in one case vice versa: the boy kisses her on the mouth).

The movie looks like a filmed stage production for we almost never leave the house and there are only five actors (plus a short appearance by the doctor),but it's absorbing from start to finish .Irene Dunne ,as a scientist ,predates woman's lib by thirty years .Frances Dee says the words that are the keys to the movie: " give birth to them ,raise them ,and let them live!" To keep her sons by her side,the mother-in-law you would not imagine even in your worst dreams ,would do anything:she urges her sons to break up ,she even blackmails them with the poor condition of her heart (whereas the physician says she is all right);when her younger son's fiancé tries to commit suicide ,she is not moved that much :Laura Hope Crews ' playing may seem old fashioned by today's standards;but this portrayal of a self-absorbed woman remain convincing and Mrs Phelps is a distant relative of Tennessee Williams' Mrs Venable in "suddenly last Summer"

Devastating portrayal of just how far a mothers love for her children will go. Unfortunately, her love is more possessive than normal and this type of love is ruinous in a relationship with ones children.

Laura Hope Crews gives the greatest performance of her career, unfortunately, it is overshadowed by her appearance in "Gone With the Wind".

Joel McCrea and Eric Linden are outstanding as her sons while Irene Dunne and Frances Dee are equally well as the women in their respective lives.

If you ever get the chance to see this film, then you will never forget it. It may have been made quite awhile ago, but the movie still packs a wallop.

Irene Dunne has married Joel McCrea and is going to meet his mother, played by Laura Hope Crews. But what Irene doesn't know is that Laura had her own plans for her son – to live close by her side and visit often. Based on a stage play, this can come across as rather talky and stagy, but I find the subject matter fascinating and most absorbing as we see the mother trying subtly and sometimes not so subtly to manipulate her sons so that they may never leave her. Eric Linden is another son, who is engaged to Frances Dee, unless "poor, pitiful" mother has anything to do with it. I don't know much about the movies and career of Laura Hope Crews, who played "Aunt Pittypat" in "Gone with the Wind," but I would surmise that this is one of her best and meatiest roles. The film belongs to her, as she has tantrums and wraps her sons around her little finger. By the way, costars Joel and Frances would marry in real life. If you happen to discover "The Silver Cord," which I doubt, don't pass this up. You may be looking for the best films of the great Irene Dunne, but instead you will discover the under-appreciated Ms. Laura Hope Crews at the zenith of her career.