Review of Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) by Ricardo O — 25 Dec 2010

Make Way For Tomorrow is a beautiful, poignant little tale of an elderly couple, Barkley and Lucy Cooper (Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi), in their late 60s that suffer from having their home foreclosed. They turn to their five children for help, but none of them are willing or able to do much to help them out. Their son George (Thomas Mitchell) and his wife Anita (Fay Bainter) take Lucy in, while Nellie (Minna Gombell) and her husband Harvey (Porter Hall) agree to take Barkley, but neither couple have the space or time to look after them both. Living with their children causes each of them to suffer from being lonely without each other and being treated as a nuisance among their families. Lucy eventually decides to take up residence in a home for older women. Lucy and Barkley realize that it may be the last time they may see each other again so they plan to have one last day on the town to enjoy before they separate indefinitely.

Leo McCarey's sympathetic look at the loneliness the two deal with is extremely moving. Orson Welles once stated that this film could make a stone cry. It hits the heart seeing these two people who throughout their whole marriage have hardly ever been separated more than probably a day at a time. Both of the leads are excellent and McCarey's sentimental direction is on point. The last scenes of the film with the old couple spending what may be the last hours together are really moving. This movie almost certainly inspired Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu's films especially his masterpiece Tokyo Story. Make Way For Tomorrow is a magnificent little film that even McCarey acknowledged he should have won the Oscar for, instead of the one he actually won that same year. He considered it the greatest achievement of his great career. 10/10.