Our Town

An amiable, slightly expurgated adaptation of Thornton Wilder's play celebrating the homespun values of a 'typical' small town in New Hampshire. Kicking off with a senior citizen (Craven) buttonholing the camera to act as our guide, it proceeds (by way of some hokey philosophising) to a tolerably banal account of humble humanity facing up to the everyday experience of living, loving and dying. Set in a studio-built town, attractively designed by William Cameron Menzies but not exactly conducive to the required 'realistic' atmosphere, the film is rescued from insufferable cosiness by pleasant performances, Aaron Copland's score, and Wood's meticulous attention to detail.