THE MAGNIFICENT YANKEE (1950)

The life of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, based on a play and presented much like a play, or a pageant of historical tableux, or a junior-high filmstrip. Despite the static production, the film does hold your attention, mostly thanks to the fine acting of Louis Calhern as Holmes and Ann Harding as his wife. Most of the film takes place in their home in Washington, in episodes that mark the passage of time. First, just after he has been appointed to the Supreme Court, we see them buying the house in what today would be a "meet cute" scene (except that they're already married) in which it becomes clear that she has already signed the paperwork but is letting her husband think that he has a say in the matter. They settle into the house and Washington life, and soon discover that they cannot have children, so Holmes takes to calling his male secretaries (sent over each year from Yale Law School) his "sons"; this leads to a touching tribute scene near the end. We see some of Holmes' defeats and victories, but we don't really get a strong sense of what he stood for. Eduard Franz is Louis Brandeis, a fellow justice; Philip Ober is Owen Wister, friend of Holmes' and author of the "The Virginian," who is also the narrator; Ian Wolfe is Henry Adams, who is usually on the other side of the political and philosophical fence from Holmes. Among the "sons" whom old movie buffs might recognize are Todd Karns, Richard Anderson, and Jimmy Lydon. Stodgy and drab in execution, but worth watching for Calhern and Harding. [TCM]