For today's Senior Matinee at 1:30 p.m., the Dryden will screen Dodsworth (William Wyler, U.S. 1936, 101 min., 35mm).

Dodsworth, one of the most intelligent films of the 1930s, is a study of a marriage in crisis. Produced by the legendary Samuel Goldwyn and directed by the great William Wyler, Dodsworth was one of eight films the two collaborated on over the next ten years. Based on the Sinclair Lewis novel, Sidney Howard adapted his Broadway play to the screen and Walter Huston reprised his role of Sam Dodsworth, which he had played more than three hundred times on the stage. The cast also included Ruth Chatterton as Fran Dodsworth, in one of the best roles of her career, Mary Astor, Paul Lukas, Maria Ouspenskaya, and David Niven in one of his first American films. The New York Times placed Dodsworth on their Ten Best Films list in 1936 and was one of the twenty highest grossing movies of the year.

[source: Dryden website, 2015-Apr-13]