} Crítica Retrô: Os Seus, Os Meus, Os Nossos / Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

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Friday, August 25, 2017

Os Seus, Os Meus, Os Nossos / Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

Os anos 60 representaram uma nova era em Hollywood. A censura ia enfraquecendo, novos temas eram explorados – como as comédias sobre sexo – mas muitas das estrelas eram as mesmas de antes. Um animalzinho velho pode aprender a fazer novos truques? Uma estrela da Old Hollywood consegue se adaptar aos temas da Nova Hollywood? Bem, se estas estrelas da Old Hollywood são Henry Fonda e Lucille Ball, eles com certeza conseguem.

The 1960s represented a new time in Hollywood. The censorship was waning, new themes were being explored – like the sex comedies – but many of the stars were the same as before. Can an old pet learn how to do a new trick? Can an Old Hollywood star adapt to the themes of New Hollywood? Well, if those Old Hollywood stars are Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, they certainly can.
Frank Beardsley (Fonda) é viúvo e tem dez filhos – mas dois deles estão “emprestados” com seu irmão. Helen North (Ball) é viúva e tem oito filhos. Eles foram feitos um para o outro, certo? É nisto que passamos a acreditar quando eles se encontram em diversas ocasiões. Outro personagem que acredita que eles estão predestinados um ao outro é Darrell (Van Johnson), amigo de ambos. Frank é oficial da Marinha, Helen é enfermeira, mas as famílias enormes são o que os tornam um par perfeito.

Frank Beardsley (Fonda) is a widower and has ten children – but two of them are “on loan-out” with his brother. Helen North (Ball) is a widow and has eight children. They were made for each other, right? This is what we are led to believe when they bump into each other in several occasions. Another character that believes they are a perfect duo is Darrell (Van Johnson), a friend of both. Frank is a Navy officer, Helen is a nurse, but their huge families are what makes them a perfect fit.
Darrell é como um cupido. Isso significa que Van Johnson tem um papel secundário, e este é um de seus melhores papéis no cinema. Como protagonista ele nem sempre conseguiu me convencer, mas como coadjuvante – ou mesmo como cantor, porque ele fez sucesso com “The Music Man” no teatro em Londres – ele é ótimo. Na vida real, Helen e Frank tiveram um cupido diferente: quem os apresentou foi a irmã de Frank, que era freira.

Darrell is a matchmaker. This means that Van Johnson has a supporting role, and this is one of his best appearances on film. As a lead he doesn’t always convinced me, but as a sidekick – or even as a singer, because he was a hit on “The Music Man” in the London theater – he did.  The real Helen and Frank, though, had a different matchmaker: the person who present one to the other was Frank's sister, who was a nun.
Lucy é a melhor em cena. Ela é hilária em muitos momentos que demandam comédia física, como no bar irlandês, em que ela tem problemas com os cílios postiços e com o vestido, e no primeiro jantar com os filhos de Frank, que é o ponto alto da performance de Lucy. O grande conflito no filme é a aceitação por parte dos filhos de Beardsley de Helen como uma verdadeira mãe. Sim, alguns dos filhos dela reagem com rebeldia ao fato de Frank ser o “novo pai” deles, mas ao menos um deles, Phillip, fica muito feliz com a novidade.

Lucy is the best in the film. She is hilarious in many scenes that demand physical comedy, like in the Irish bar, where she has trouble with her fake eyelashes and her dress, and in the first dinner with Frank’s kids, which is the high point of her performance. The greatest conflict in the film is the Beardsley children accepting her as a true mother. Yes, some of the North children react badly to having Frank as their new father, but at least one of them, Phillip, is more than happy with the news.
Alguns outros filmes, e especialmente séries de TV, lidaram com a vida familiar nos anos 60. A família em “Já Fomos Tão Felizes” parece minúscula se comparada com a de “Os Seus, Os Meus, Os Nossos”. No filme de Doris Day e David Niven, há apenas quatro filhos, e o conflito deles é focada na readaptação após a mudança da cidade grande para o interior, onde uma vez mais a mãe de família pode sonhar com o estrelato nos palcos. Para Helen North, não há espaço para sonhar – ela só pode focar em assuntos práticos.

Some other movies, and especially TV shows, dealt with family life in the 1960s. The family in “Please, Don't Eat the Daisies” (1960) seems tiny when compared with the “Yours, Mine and Ours”. In the Doris Day / David Niven movie, there are only four kids, and their conflict is focused on readapting to life when moving from the big city to the countryside, where the mother can once again dream with stage stardom. For Helen North, there is no room for dreaming – she can only focus on practical issues.
Há piadas mais modernas em “Os Seus, Os Meus, Os Nossos”, algumas delas envolvendo duplo sentido, contraceptivos e a juventude louca por sexo. Mas não se engane: tudo isso pode funcionar e ser discutido no momento do namoro, mas a vida real e diária depois do casamento não é assim. Frank quer deixar o trabalho e ficar em casa com toda a família, algo que Helen não deixa que ele faça. Afinal, ficar em casa é uma atividade para mulheres, enquanto trabalhos intelectuais são para homens. Helen se sacrifica muito mais que Frank pela enorme família, embroa Frank tenha seus momentos emocionantes. No final, nada mudou no seio familiar. No final dos ano 60, nada havia mudado em Hollywood.

There are more “modern” jokes in “Yours, Mine and Ours”, some of them involving innuendo, contraception and sex-crazy youth. But don’t be fooled: all this mighty work and be discussed in the dating part, but the real, daily life of a married couple, is not like this. Frank wants to leave his work to stay home with the whole family, something Helen doesn’t let him do. After all, staying home is an activity for women, while intellectual jobs are for men. Helen sacrifices much more for her huge family, even though Frank has his emotional moments. At the end of the day, nothing has changed in the familiar scene. At the end of the 1960s, not much had changed in Hollywood.

This is my contribution to the Van Johnson blogathon, hosted by Michaela at Love Letters to Old Hollywood.

5 comments:

  1. The stars make this a charming movie. The logistics of that large family still boggles the mind and makes me laugh. All those loaves of bread!

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  2. Excellent review! I especially like your discussion of old Hollywood versus new Hollywood. Ball and Fonda are fantastic in this, and Van is the best Cupid. I love the scene in the bar where he keeps getting drinks spilled on him.

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  3. Seems to me I saw this one Saturday when my sister and I visited the grandparents. Back in the day, before cable TV, one or another of the big three networks had a Saturday Night at the Movies, and we saw a lot of them from the late 60's through the 70's. Of course, its been many decades since then. I should give this one another view.

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  4. That scene where Lucy has trouble with her false eyelash has me laughing and clutching my stomach every time. She is SO funny in this film.

    I adore this film but, even so, I have two issues with it: (1) For all "modern"/1960s appearances, the script still fits into the old Hollywood man/woman roles – as you pointed out; and (2) Van Johnson doesn't have nearly enough screen time. I wish filmmakers included him in just a couple more scenes...

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  5. When I think of this movie, I recall Fonda and Lucy but never Van Johnson. Which is too bad because, as you remind us, he does a wonderful job as the best friend. Authentic, sincere and funny. Thanks for sharing.

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