Dodsworth (1936) - William Wyler

One of the universally acclaimed films of the 30's, and also considered the first really great work from William Wyler. Dodsworth is a remarkably mature film for its time, and hence the reason why perhaps it didn't do considerable business at theatres. However this could also explain how the film has managed to hold up so well, years later. Walter Huston plays Sam Dodsworth who just sold his auto factory and has an abundant amount of free time. Unfortunately his wife (Ruth Chatterton) doesn't seem to be too happy about getting this close to her husband, and proceeds to have one affair after another. Distraught Sam eventually finds a more suitable partner in Mary Astor, but the story isn't so easily solved. Great pretty much all around, and Huston is fantastic, much more subdued than viewers familiar with his Treasure of the Sierra Madre performance. Most of the supporting cast is great, and it features some incredibly big names at the time, including future Oscar winners David Niven and Paul Lukas. The film had a ridiculous amount of competition that year, which would explain its relative drought in the awards.

*Dodsworth was nominated for best picture, best actor (Huston), best director, best screenplay, best sound, best supporting actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), it won for best art direction.