Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Our Town Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 17, 2023

If you ever took part in any school dramatics, chances are you either did a fully staged version of Our Town or at least a scene or two from it, so ensconced in American theatrical history this legendary Thornton Wilder piece has become. Like many perceived "monoliths" in American culture, it may be hard to realize that at one point in the not so distant past, Our Town was new and rather bracing in some of its artifices, which might be compared to "meta" aspects that had previously been utilized by Eugene O'Neill in Mourning Becomes Electra, but were arguably put to a somewhat "kinder, gentler" use in Wilder's piece. Interestingly in that regard, and saliently in that both Our Town and Mourning Becomes Electra may not have had the "easiest" of transitions to the cinematic medium, it's the source plays' very theatricality that may make them less than ideal candidates for a film. In that regard, it's probably arguable that Our Town made out a bit better than Mourning Becomes Electra. Kind of ironically humorously in terms of "uneasy" adaptations, however, and especially given the fact that William Holden starred in both and quite possibly may well have shot them successively, Our Town "reinvents" a late developing tragedy in Wilder's original, keeping a central character alive, in much the same way that the 1939 film version of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy did (in that case, it was actually two characters).

For those unacquainted with Our Town (could there possibly be any such people?), it's a beautiful little slice of what used to be called Americana, with Wilder deliberately, well, playing on the fact that (in the original stage version, at least) people were, you know, watching a play. That means there's a Stage Manager (Frank Craven), who acts as a veritable narrator and guide, introducing a small town coterie of characters, including focal romantic interests George Gibbs (William Holden) and Emily Webb (Martha Scott). The original stage version kind of trafficked in the same "you don't know how many lives you've actually touched" ethos that informed It's a Wonderful Life some years later, but the film's decision (apparently made in concert with Wilder, who probably didn't mind the paycheck) makes that whole issue a little "iffy", or at least iffier. The film is absolutely overflowing with brilliant character work from a supporting cast including Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter and Guy Kibbee as the young lovers' parents.

A play like Our Town that actually depends on it being a play can't help but suffer somewhat from its transition to movie life, but as these things go, this adaptation is relatively artful and manages to toe a fine line between "realism" and "artifice". The film received four Academy Award nominations, for Best Picture, Best Actress Martha Scott (repeating her Broadway performance), Best Score for Aaron Copland, and Best Sound (Thomas T. Moulton).

Our Town Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Our Town is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of ClassicFlix with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. The following information text appears before the presentation:

Our Town is sourced from the best available material preserved at the Library of Congress: a 35mm fine grain element, with a 35mm master positive print used for reel 6 as it was missing from the fine grain.

Previously only available in muddy, hard to view prints, ClassicFlix performed a major restoration of Our Town removing millions of instances of dirt, mitigating flicer and persistent stains, correcting severe warping and performing image stabilization - all to give this film version of Thorton Wilder's immortal classic the presentation it so richly deserves.

A cursory glance at the Restoration Demonstration ClassicFlix includes as a supplement on this disc will give some indication of some of the hurdles that had to be overcome for this version, and if there are a few niggling qualms along the way, they're really pretty minor when stacked up against the positives of this effort. The source element(s) showed considerable age related wear and tear, and some positively milky contrast to the point that blacks had a somewhat grayish tone and nothing was really well balanced throughout grayscale. Contrast is markedly improved now, with some convincingly deep blacks and generally nice reproductions of mid- to lighter tones. Detail levels are quite commendable, aided by the prevalence of rather interesting, almost Expressionist at times, framings courtesy of Bert Glennon (with maybe a little input from Production Designer William Cameron Menzies). There were some passing moments where things looked just very slightly anamorphically squeezed to me, but that might be my eyes playing tricks on me. Grain shows some fluctuations, but encounters no major resolution problems, and I frankly didn't notice a huge change in either clarity or grain structure when things switched from the fine grain to the master positive.

Our Town Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Our Town features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track which does unfortunately have some noticeable distortion in some of Aaron Copland's score, but which delivers all of the dialogue and the corny but effective sound effects like the crickets in the opening Stage Manager monologue well enough. There is some background hiss evident throughout the presentation.

Our Town Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Ray Faiola


• Thornton Wilder Interview with Lilli Palmer (HD; 12:45) is from a Sunday afternoon television program with Lilli Palmer. This aired in March, 1953.


• The Campbell Playhouse Radio Version (HD; 1:00:34) pre-dates the film's release and is an Orson Welles production with Welles as the Stage Manager and original Broadway George, John Craven. This plays to lobby cards from the film.


• The Lux Radio Theatre Version (HD; 59:29) is from shortly after the film's release and features many of the principal cast recreating their roles. This plays to an array of news articles about the Lux presentation.


• Restoration Comparison (HD; 4:23)

Trailers for other releases from ClassicFlix are also included. The keepcase insert features an image of William Holden and Martha Scott on the inside.

Our Town Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For such an enduring classic of the American theater, this film version of Our Town hasn't been curated especially well in the home theater era, but this new release from ClassicFlix helps to ameliorate that situation. Technical merits are generally solid (video more than audio), and this release also offers some very appealing supplements. Recommended.