Simply Perfect

i must have seen a different film!!

Crappy film

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Watching this film was a tribute to the way films "used to be," a ode to another time. That I liked about this movie was the way it looked at life straight in the eye, without attempting to "pretty it up" by representing farm life in the 1860's anymore that it was, a hard, difficult slog where many people labored and died, quietly, tragically, and without fanfare. It was those pioneers who built this country, and when I experience the current hardships of this damnable economy, it pales in comparison to what these characters experienced in everyday life. I thought the casting was impeccable, and the choice of the boy equally so, giving another deserving actor a chance to play a little boy other than Roddy McDowall, the quintessential star child of his generation. I love the way this film dealt with the often harsh realities of life in such a simple and beautiful way, capturing both the hardships and natural beauty of our country the way it was. But by far my favorite line in the entire movie was spoken by Greg Peck, when he summed up existence in this way: "Life is about losin' and getting,' and getting' and losin.'" Amen.

This is an early Technicolor film that dazzled audiences with its scenes of nature in all its splendid colors in 1946. It is also one of the many successful efforts in Hollywood's first half century that turned very good or noted books into very good or great movies. The novel source of this film by the same name was penned by Marjorie Rawlings in 1938. The setting is the flat wilds of north-central Florida around the turn of the 20th century. Rawlings' Cross Creek homestead today is a state park north of Ocala. "The Yearling" is an enjoyable, moving tale about a young boy growing up in a pioneer family. At times humorous, at times serious, the story never gives a sense of despair but is always filled with hope. It has great depth of characters in the central cast. Theirs is a heartfelt closeness that is hidden just below the surface for the propriety of the times. But the audience is always aware of this close bond between Ma, Pa and son. Few who have commented so far mention the strong work ethic within the family. That was a necessity in pioneer families of the time, and this film captures that important aspect of early American times before the advent of automation. Indeed, it is a part of the formation of character we see in young Jody as the movie story unfolds. I don't think there are many films that show this, so "The Yearling" has some historical value in that regard. Others have commented on the beautiful story and the cast, especially the new child star, Claude Jarman, Jr. Jarman became a child-star over night with his role, which he "won" in a nationwide talent search by MGM. All aspects of this film are excellent, and it received seven nominations for Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It won two Oscars for production, and Jarman received a special junior Oscar for his role. Both Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman were nominated for lead role Oscars. But 1946 was like many other years in the early and mid-20th century. Actors, directors and technicians competed for awards with outstanding work in many films that went head-to-head at the Oscars. That year's films included "The Best Years of Our Lives," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Henry V," "The Jolson Story," "To Each His Own," and "Duel in the Sun." What prompted me most to write this review, with so many other comments, was the performance by Gregory Peck. Another reviewer, bkoganbing from Buffalo (2 March 2008), said that he wasn't sure that Peck and Wyman gave better performances than in "The Yearling," where both later won Oscars for roles in other films. I agree. Peck surely deserved his Oscar for "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1962. But I think his Penny Baxter in "Yearling" was much broader, deeper and touching than was his very good Atticus Finch in "Mockingbird." Most actors over time develop a very identifiable film persona. There is nothing wrong with that – it's a reality of the trade and of time, experience and habits. The audiences become familiar with stars on that basis. No doubt, producers and directors cast parts based on such characteristics. By the time Gregory Peck had a few more years under his belt in front of the cameras, he had developed a persona that audiences knew him for. In nearly every role he played after his first few years, his characters were serious, studied and thoughtful. That surely describes Atticus Finch in "Mockingbird." But in "The Yearling," we see a Peck who smiles often, who shows a sparkle in his eye and speech – even when matters are most serious He has a subdued humor that surfaces just at the right times. He has an energy and vitality of movement that springs of youth. It isn't in later roles in which he played characters of the same age. He had not yet developed a mold of a persona, and his performance had greater breadth and range. It was the freshness of his acting and his relative newness to Hollywood. This film is the best of a fine actor who had several nominations in his life for excellent roles in some great movies.

A powerful family film about loss and resilience.Thirty-year-old Gregory Peck, at his most boyishly handsome here, plays a Job-like soul of post-Civil War, backwoods Florida, a man who can't shoot straight when a bear kills his livestock, gets fanged by a rattlesnake, and pulls a hernia while uprooting a tree.His saturnine wife, embodied with simmering rage by a stellar Jane Wyman, sinks toward hopelessness after the deaths of her infant children and nature's ravages of the family's homestead. Their only surviving child, played well by Claude Jarman Jr. in his film debut, has just one friend -- the orphaned fawn of the movie's title.This emotionally rich film is beautiful in its depictions of the wild southern terrain and its characters' intimacies. A few questions are left unanswered. The odd young character Fodderwing is perhaps intended to be mentally retarded. One wonders why his family left him unsupervised when he wanted to fly.My 10-year-old son didn't want to watch "Yearling," thinking it too old-fashioned. But he was deeply drawn in by the film's second hour.A memorable effort.

I've seen the movie I don't know how many times, but watched it again on TCM this past Sunday and noticed that the music playing while Jody is running through the woods with the fawn, is Mendelsohn's Midsummer Night's Dream overture, slightly changed. Never picked up on that before.I've been informed that my comment wasn't long enough to be used. Interesting. I've never been accused of being overly succinct before.Don't really have much more to say. I like the movie. I like Peck and Wyman although Jarman as Jody was a bit... annoying at times. It was weird seeing Chill Wills as a young man and realizing that Forrest Tucker had a career before "F Troop". (But did he have a career afterwards....)