Ronald Colman

Peggy Cummins

Vanessa Brown

Mildred Natwick

Richard Haydn

Nydia Westman

Percy Waram

Richard Ney

Edna Best

Charles Russell

Paul Harvey

Kathleen Howard

Francis Pierlot

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Fred Sersen

Roger Heman Sr.

René Hubert

Cyril J. Mockridge

Fred Kohlmar

Thomas Little

James Basevi

Joseph LaShelle

J. Russell Spencer

F.E. 'Johnny' Johnston

Paul S. Fox

Alfred Newman

Maurice De Packh

Ben Nye

James B. Clark

Bernard Freericks

Philip Dunne

George S. Kaufman

John P. Marquand

Comedy

The Late George Apley

20th Century Fox

United States of America

CinemaSerf

The "Apley" family have been part of the Bostonian establishment since God was a boy, and the head of the household "George" (Ronald Colman) is keen to ensure that with his wife "Catherine" (Edna Best) his son and daughter follow firmly in their establishment footsteps. Thing is, his daughter "Eleanor" (Peggy Cummins) and his son "Richard" (Richard Ney) are rather more independently spirited than that, and their definition of conformity is not quite that of their father! What now ensues is a rather nicely paced comedy that offers us the principle of coming of age - but in this case it's the grown ups who have to come to an age in which their traditions are important, but not all-so. It's based on John Marquand's original, quite satirical, story that casts gentle aspersions on snobbery and elitism, but also acknowledges some of the values those eschewed as a bedrock for a solid and decently evolving society. Colman is on good form in a role I imagined might have suited George Arliss too, and there is the always reliable Mildred Natwick amongst a supporting cast of the sympathetic and not so amongst this family that simply has to adapt to survive. This is an enjoyable ninety minutes of social observation and is well worth a watch.

English