Adam Had Four Sons (1941)

Warner Baxter plays Adam, and he has four sons: Richard Denning, Johnny Downs, Robert Shaw, and Charles Lind. He's in charge of a grand estate, but when his wife dies and his fortune is wiped out, he has to scramble to be able to afford his lifestyle again. Ingrid Bergman plays the governess who helps him pick up the pieces of his struggling family. When the boys grow up, some marry and some enlist in WWI-what will happen to the family dynamic?If you like movies about governesses sent in to take care of a brood of children, you'll probably like this one. It's got all the elements: struggles with the children, eventual acceptance and bonding, a little romance with the father, and family tensions when the children grow up. Ingrid is always very good when playing someone strong, so if you're a fan, you won't be disappointed in her performance in Adam Had Four Sons. Even though the title features Warner Baxter's name, it's Ingrid who's the star of the show. She may be only the governess, but she's the glue that keeps everyone together. And keep on the lookout for a young Susan Hayward in one of her first major roles. She's beautiful and cunning, and it's amazing that she wasn't forever typecast as a villain after a movie like this!

A rich family hires a governess to look after its four sons, and she stays with the family even after the sons are grown. The plot is simple but silly; it would have played better as a comedy. It's not clear why the sons need a governess after becoming young adults. This was Bergman's first American film, and she is fine as the French (not Swedish!) governess. Baxter as the father and Denning as one of the sons are also OK. Hayword, on the other hand, is a riot in an over-the-top performance as the wife of one of the sons who's not only a gold digger, but also a nymphomaniac. She greets her in-laws by kissing them on the mouth, as Ingrid looks on in horror.

In this, Ingrid Bergman's second American film, she once again plays the nubile love interest of a much older man (as she did with Leslie Howard in INTERMEZZO, which was a remake of her Swedish film by the same name). This is a period film, made in the 1940s, it is set back before WWI, so it has that "old world" feel about it, and her accent is used to great advantage, as she plays a nanny from "the old country." In the 1940s many many films had a rosy remembrance of the 1890s and early 1900s, just as today we have sweetened remembrances of the 70s, like " Almsost Famous" – a film that turns a band-following sleeze into some mythological dream girl/woman of easy sex and maternal sweetness. (Ah yes, the early 2000s, they will be saying in the future, where once again, the only purpose of a girl in a film is to be a willing vessel for a man.) But I digress… which your mind might do during this film, because it is a pretty bland and predictable story, despite the catty game playing of a young Susan Hayward. It's also a little ikky by today's standards, when we realize that we are supposed to be rooting for Ingrid to pair up with a man who looks at least 30 years older than she is. But we must remember what financial stability meant in a post depression era world.Susan Hayward has a very interesting role here. It became a prototype for her later roles, sexually and personally aggressive, and morally bankrupt. It is also interesting because you can see her acting never really changed or progressed. She had everything here in this powerhouse performance that she had as an older actress. Lots of strength and pizazz, not much nuance. (Watch VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, and she is interchangeable – just older, with a better script.) Consequently, this film gives us a stark contrast between Hayward & Bergman, heightened by this contrast in acting style. Susan Hayward hits you over the head while you're on the doorstep. Ingrid quietly lets you come inside. This makes their scenes like fire and ice, and wisely, the filmmakers let the story build to a confrontation between them. That is the best part of this film – at heart a woman's story.Being that this is essentially a woman's story, it is oddly overrun with little boys and men, older men and little boys who need to be looked after and catered to, young men in uniform who parade in like colorful birds – who need to be looked after and catered to. Ah yes, the war years.One real irony here is that Susan Hayward's character is introduced in uniform. It is not commented on at all, but instead of this conferring respect on her, we know immediately that this shorthand means she is hard, aggressive and probably sexually promiscuous. Definitely NOT what those boys were fighting for; they may have wanted Susan in the field, but they wanted Ingrid to come home to. Amusing in retrospect, and also a frustrating reminder that women who give their lives in service to their country are still regarded with an odd mixture of intangible suspicions.Somewhere in this mix is Fay Wray (I didn't recognize her)… She played the sainted, oddly healthy looking mother of the boys who dies. In the titles she is identified only by her first name, and the mother is never called by the first name within the film, it is "mother" or "Mrs.". I can only assume that audiences at this time would have known her on sight, so they couldn't conceive that one day people would be trying to figure out which one she was. Wray did a lot of work on the stage, and actually kept pace with the times, acting-wise she grew, and her work fits nicely with the more subtle work of Bergman. It is her features and profile that pinpoint her as a beauty of the silents and early talkies. Very similar build and look to Gloria Swanson.Solid, studio bound production from this period, with some unexplainable gaps of logic in the story and large gaps of time left unmentioned. This period of films was a little suffocating even for those who like it, so you can probably skip it unless you really want to see the early work of Bergman and Hayward.

"Adam Had Four Sons" (1941) is a perfect movie for folks who enjoy watching stars performing early in their careers. In this film, there are four such performances to draw the viewer's attention. The story here concerns the quaint Connecticut household headed by Warner Baxter and Fay Wray in 1907, and the French governess (Ingrid Bergman, in her second American film) who is brought in to care for their four young boys. Years later, trouble brews when one of the boys brings home a new wife, Susan Hayward, "the Brooklyn Bombshell," in one of her earliest screen roles. Hayward wastes no time in becoming drunken, bitchy and flirtatious, especially with the hunky eldest brother, Richard Denning, in one of HIS earlier roles. Need I even mention that a Grade A confrontation looms between the protective governess and the interloping bad girl? This is actually a very warm little movie, with nice performances by all; an involving, over-the-years type of story; and handsome production values. The three lead actresses look as beautiful as one could wish for, especially Hayward. Honestly...has there EVER been an actress with such a combination of drop-dead good looks and sheer acting ability? Not for me, anyway. But in this picture, our sympathies are completely with Bergman, and she is just radiant and lovely in her sweet role. The contrast between the two is quite striking here; what a shame that these wonderful actresses never worked together again. Anyway, I really did enjoy this movie and do recommend it to all IMDb viewers. Oh, I almost forgot. A 16-year-old June Lockhart also appears in this film; yet another early performance to relish!