beautifully direct by clarence brown and the nearly perfect cast of this rare ( but not quite only ) oneill comedy shine from top to bottom even a one speculate the film this might have be have a methodist minister not effectively murder one of america great entertainer over the minister shallow objection to the depiction of a fall woman . he write to will rogers and who be tour in the george m. cohan or lionel barrymore role of the father and slat to do this movie version and state that he have have to leave the theatre with his daughter rather than expose her to such smut . rogers pride himself on never do blue material and and withdraw from the film in favor of that fatal trip to alaska with wiley post while one suspect the unfortunate minister saw rather more than he like of himself in muriel father and mccomber and in the play and and that be the true source of his offense . start with this film and many production of ah and wilderness . and the work base on it and like the broadway musical take me along and have top bill the showy role of sid ( wallace beery ) over the core role of the stabilize force and the father ( lionel barrymore ) and whose relationship with his son ( eric linden ) the play turn around . one wonder if it would have be that way have rogers ignore blue nose objection and make the film and but it be hard to imagine a good performance than barrymore give in the role . while recognize the vast difference between the usual depth of oneill drama and this warm remembrance of an idealized youth oneill might have imagine want in middle class connecticut at the start of the 20th century and student of the playwright must view this play ( and film ) next to his more obviously autobiographical masterpiece a long day journey . and moon for the misbegotten and the sea play ( film collectively a the long voyage home ) for a complete understanding of the author . the great regret in the film be the fresh and forceful performance from eric linden a richard the boy on the verge of manhood and struggle with the same essential sexual or social issue every young man struggle with and even if they may seem quaint and even shallow in this period tell ( we only imagine it somehow different because of the period specific ) . it a fine performance and one wonder what happen to the actor . he live on to age 85 and only passing in 1994 and but never make the transition to adult lead and after the minor role of an amputee in the 1939 blockbuster and go with the wind and only make one more minor film during wwii and and call it a career . nevertheless and glory in superb work from a balance cast that showcases spring byington a the mother and the wonderful character actress aline macmahon a sid love interest and lily ( seek her out a the nurse in the superb play of the week filming of judith anderson in medea in 1959 or a ida in judy garland final film and i could go on sing from 1963 . ) and mickey rooney a the almost too energetic young brother tommy . yes and wallace beery break lily heart ( and ours ) with his drunk scene play for laugh and but oneill know whereof he write and and give u a depth and subtext to these scene which most comedy of the period or late comedy drunk scene couldn not imagine and and let u understand the deeper mean even while we permit ourselves to smile at beery and oneill craft . a last point to be make in appreciate this terrific production represent make in glorious black and white ( a the vhs release call it ) and the studio set designer and director brown take full advantage of the more detailed visual vocabulary monochrome offer and give u so detail a portrait of the world the play be set in you could teach a master class on the style and technology of the period just from the beautifully observed physical portrait in this film . allow yourself a ninety eight minute excursion back to the turn of the last century this be a trip to what be not quite the cultural wilderness some of u might suppose that you will never regret take .