Blossoms in the Dust (1941) - Mervyn LeRoy

Well in the early 40's Greer Garson became the prestige queen. An actress who very carefully chose her roles, and nearly every performance she gave garnered at least an Oscar nomination. Blossoms in the Dust was another film about a strong willed woman who doesn't seem to have a bad quality to her. LeRoy has to go to great lengths to make Garson human in this story, but thanks in part to Garson's performance it is conveyed. The model of caring and devotion does show signs that things aren't as wholesome as they may seem, and up until the end a level of doubt creeps up in her. The film was shot in glorious technicolor, part of which by the legendary Karl Freund, who earned one of the films four Oscar nominations. Unusual for a prestige picture of this kind to get the technicolor treatment, but I'd say the color does wonders for Garson's beauty. It is nearly impossible to talk about this film without mentioning her, this is a vehicle for her talents, just Ray was for Jamie Foxx. Like Hackford's film this too was based on a real person, one who was still alive when the film premeired.

*Blossoms in the Dust was nominated for best picture, actress (Garson), color cinematography, and color art direction. It won for best color art direction.