While Barbara Stanwyck was definitely a movie star when she made this remake of the silent Samuel Goldwyn tearjerker, this movie put her over the map as far as moving on towards film legend. Mother love movies were a dime a dozen by this time, but there was something special and something definitely different about this one. There is a glow in her eyes as she goes from young factory worker who marries the bosses' son (John Boles) to unhappy young wife doting on her baby girl to divorced single mother determined to make a life for the two of them on their own. Along the way, there is her brassy, sometimes drunken best pal (Alan Hale Sr.), the sudden change in her appearance from pretty young thing to overly made-up and jeweled tacky middle aged woman.
As she grows older, young Laurel (Anne Shirley in an Oscar Nominated part) remains loyal to her mother even though papa Beal has gone onto a happy relationship with a glamorous widow (Barbara O'Neil). When Stella becomes the talk of a resort thanks to her appearance, Laurel shows her mother how much she loves her by cuddling with her all night on the train after overhearing the gossip. Shirley's performance could have been rather hackneyed, but Laurel is so likable that as the story focuses from Stella's youth to Laurel's maturing years, it becomes the tale of two heroines who retain interest without taking away from the other.
The key scenes, of course, come in the film's last quarter where Stella must let her daughter go, and this is where the tears begin to come in. Three scenes strike that cord: First, Stanwyck meets with her ex's new wife to explain her predicament, basically pretending to deny any desire of keeping her daughter around. Next, Shirley pays mom a surprise visit, and Stella must pretend that she has no place in her life for a growing teen. Time passes and Stella learns of events in her daughter's life which could certainly bring on a reunion, but the plan has been set in motion, and it is too late in this life for anybody to change, let alone a late middle aged woman who has no prospects for a young girl on the verge of entering society. You want to scream at her, "Ring the doorbell! Let them know you're here!", but somehow you understand why and just allow the bittersweet finale to a story that really couldn't end any other way.
I'm sure that there are viewers of this film that have desired a mother/daughter reconciliation down the road where the middle-aged Laurel learns the truth and tracks her aging mother down, but this was never dramatized and thus can only remain in the fantasy of the viewer. There are certainly better Barbara Stanwyck movies and stronger performances of her in tougher, more demanding roles, but there is a softness underneath Stella's tackiness that makes you really care about her beyond the baubles, bangles and beads. Her other three Oscar Nominated roles were for playing less vulnerable characters, and many of her classic roles were for similarly tough women. Stella retains the vulnerability which makes her more identifiable, and that is where the power in her performance takes over, making this perhaps her most popular film.
As for Anne Shirley, this is a far cry from all those cheery heroines she played over at RKO, especially the aptly named Anne Shirley in "Anne of Green Gables". There have been other mother and daughter movies where the script was certainly more realistic, but none of them has been as heartfelt. Without this film, we might not have gone onto the glorious age of 50's tearjerkers, mostly remakes of other films themselves, but fortunately, this one was not touched during that time. Bette Midler did admirably in a sappy remake in the late 1980's, but it is a pale comparison to this one.
As she grows older, young Laurel (Anne Shirley in an Oscar Nominated part) remains loyal to her mother even though papa Beal has gone onto a happy relationship with a glamorous widow (Barbara O'Neil). When Stella becomes the talk of a resort thanks to her appearance, Laurel shows her mother how much she loves her by cuddling with her all night on the train after overhearing the gossip. Shirley's performance could have been rather hackneyed, but Laurel is so likable that as the story focuses from Stella's youth to Laurel's maturing years, it becomes the tale of two heroines who retain interest without taking away from the other.
The key scenes, of course, come in the film's last quarter where Stella must let her daughter go, and this is where the tears begin to come in. Three scenes strike that cord: First, Stanwyck meets with her ex's new wife to explain her predicament, basically pretending to deny any desire of keeping her daughter around. Next, Shirley pays mom a surprise visit, and Stella must pretend that she has no place in her life for a growing teen. Time passes and Stella learns of events in her daughter's life which could certainly bring on a reunion, but the plan has been set in motion, and it is too late in this life for anybody to change, let alone a late middle aged woman who has no prospects for a young girl on the verge of entering society. You want to scream at her, "Ring the doorbell! Let them know you're here!", but somehow you understand why and just allow the bittersweet finale to a story that really couldn't end any other way.
I'm sure that there are viewers of this film that have desired a mother/daughter reconciliation down the road where the middle-aged Laurel learns the truth and tracks her aging mother down, but this was never dramatized and thus can only remain in the fantasy of the viewer. There are certainly better Barbara Stanwyck movies and stronger performances of her in tougher, more demanding roles, but there is a softness underneath Stella's tackiness that makes you really care about her beyond the baubles, bangles and beads. Her other three Oscar Nominated roles were for playing less vulnerable characters, and many of her classic roles were for similarly tough women. Stella retains the vulnerability which makes her more identifiable, and that is where the power in her performance takes over, making this perhaps her most popular film.
As for Anne Shirley, this is a far cry from all those cheery heroines she played over at RKO, especially the aptly named Anne Shirley in "Anne of Green Gables". There have been other mother and daughter movies where the script was certainly more realistic, but none of them has been as heartfelt. Without this film, we might not have gone onto the glorious age of 50's tearjerkers, mostly remakes of other films themselves, but fortunately, this one was not touched during that time. Bette Midler did admirably in a sappy remake in the late 1980's, but it is a pale comparison to this one.