If you want to see the magnificent Walter Huston at his best, try "Dodsworth". The problem with "Always In My Heart" is that it's a movie that can't quite decide which genre it fits. Had the producer and director gone with a straight drama, the result would have been better.
What's good here? Well, Walter Huston is the real attraction here. What a gem of an actor he was! Here he is an ex-con at a time when that didn't have quite the stigma it has nowadays. I also enjoyed the slice of Americana displayed here.
And, Kay Francis, a very fine, but often forgotten actress today, portrays Huston's wife who is about to get remarried, thinking Huston will never get out of prison.
Sidney Blackmer, a very pleasant character actor, is the new husband-to-be.
And, the almost perpetual maid -- Una O'Connor -- a hoot in any film is here. You also get to see John Hamilton who later was Perry White in the "Superman" television series. As an extra treat, there's an early performance of Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals, which more viewers will recognize from their appearances on television in the 1950s after they morphed into being Johnny Puleo & The Harmonicats (with Puleo being remembered as a dwarf).
The title song is a great ballad covered by many vocalists over the years.
What's bad here? The operatic singing of the daughter (played by Gloria Warren). It's not bad, but so out of style today that you just wanna say, "SHUT UP!" And finally she did just that in her fairly short film career!
The climax of the film seems a bit overdramtic, although it does work in the story. Maybe just overdone a tad.
If there's a real problem with this film it's that it is, sometimes, a bit corny and sentimental. But, what's wrong with that. That's how life is sometimes.
For Huston's performance alone I'd give this film a "7".
What's good here? Well, Walter Huston is the real attraction here. What a gem of an actor he was! Here he is an ex-con at a time when that didn't have quite the stigma it has nowadays. I also enjoyed the slice of Americana displayed here.
And, Kay Francis, a very fine, but often forgotten actress today, portrays Huston's wife who is about to get remarried, thinking Huston will never get out of prison.
Sidney Blackmer, a very pleasant character actor, is the new husband-to-be.
And, the almost perpetual maid -- Una O'Connor -- a hoot in any film is here. You also get to see John Hamilton who later was Perry White in the "Superman" television series. As an extra treat, there's an early performance of Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals, which more viewers will recognize from their appearances on television in the 1950s after they morphed into being Johnny Puleo & The Harmonicats (with Puleo being remembered as a dwarf).
The title song is a great ballad covered by many vocalists over the years.
What's bad here? The operatic singing of the daughter (played by Gloria Warren). It's not bad, but so out of style today that you just wanna say, "SHUT UP!" And finally she did just that in her fairly short film career!
The climax of the film seems a bit overdramtic, although it does work in the story. Maybe just overdone a tad.
If there's a real problem with this film it's that it is, sometimes, a bit corny and sentimental. But, what's wrong with that. That's how life is sometimes.
For Huston's performance alone I'd give this film a "7".