MGM usually made glossy films about society swells, but this one is a picturesque film about rural America set in the - at that time - present day. 85 year old Grandpa Storr (Lionel Barrymore) learns that his granddaughter by his eldest child, Louise (Miriam Hopkins) is coming to the farm for a visit from New York City. Although the two have never met before, they quickly connect. Storr has two of his children living with him - his milquetoast attorney son (Grant Mitchell) and his wife, and his controlling daughter Beatrice (Beulah Bondi).
Louise meets and falls in love with Grandpa Storr's married neighbor, Guy Crane (Franchot Tone). Guy went away to college and was changed by that experience, but went ahead and married his childhood sweetheart Nettie, mainly because they had already planned it. But Guy still has an interest in the bigger things in life such as art and literature - this is where he and Louise connect - while Nettie has never been off the farm. Nettie is a true friend to Louise, and this is what makes the whole situation more complicated, because neither Guy nor Louise could ever see themselves hurting the guileless Nettie.
And then, suddenly, Grandpa Storr becomes senile, believing that the Civil War is still going on, and his daughter Beatrice is itching to commit him so she can take over his farm and his funds.
The film never states WHERE it is located, but I would guess Pennsylvania, especially if Grandpa Storr has actual memories of Civil War battles occurring nearby. This is a very good understated performance by Hopkins, who so often played overwrought characters and women living on the edge of society. Beulah Bondi is terrific as a greedy shrew who keeps reminding Louise that she is a "scandal" because of her attention to Guy and the fact that she is separated from her husband. Stuart Erwin is the faithful but often drunken hired hand.
This film really excels at showing the rural lifestyle in the early 20th century - the dances, the harvesting, the neighbors helping each other out, the big dinners, and the beautiful countryside, exquisitely directed by King Vidor. For some reason - maybe rights problems - this is seldom shown on Turner Classic Movies in spite of being an MGM property. I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance to see it. Do note that there is about a minute missing from the end of some prints. It was common for precode era films to be rereleased with some scenes cut, but the scene missing is really nothing that would have been objected to by the censors.
