Steineded How sad is this?

Console best movie i've ever seen.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Martha Wilcox There is a scene in this film where the doctor asks James Stewart 'are you an Indian?' It is a ridiculous question, and it even takes Stewart by surprise, but it is the sort of question a non-white English person would be asked. Some English people of Caribbean origin are asked: 'Are you West Indian?' This makes Stewart accessible to all races and ethnic groups because he goes through a universal human experience.I like the scene where his father, Ethan Wilkins, eats a meal that contains a frog. Stewart thinks this is disgusting, but Ethan states that if he brought this to the woman's attention it would offend her and not do her any good. There are people who are living in situations that are offensive to others, but if you offend them by criticising them and pointing out their faults then you do more harm than good.Unfortunately, my DVD was faulty and the picture stopped 69 minutes into the film.

utgard14 Jason Wilkins (James Stewart) grows up poor and resentful towards his minister father Ethan (Walter Huston). Ethan is a good man but stern and rigid in his beliefs. Ethan's self-sacrificing wife Mary (Beulah Bondi) tries to balance his hardness by being as kind and gentle to their son as she can. When Jason is older he leaves home to go study to become a doctor. He's supported through this by money his parents send him from things they sell. After Ethan's father dies, Jason begins to neglect his mother more, writing home less and less except to ask for money. Eventually he stops writing altogether.This is an interesting one. I expected after reading some of the lukewarm reviews that it would be a stinker but I actually liked it. It's flawed, for sure, but it's also unique. There is a somewhat muddled message I suppose. The first half of the movie, where Jason is a child (excellently played by Gene Reynolds) creates a sympathetic portrait of him and an unsympathetic one of his father. But after Jason has grown up, he's a selfish ingrate who needs to be slapped around. His father, while still a hard-ass, is shown to have a kinder side and a genuine concern for his fellow man. The two halves do not necessarily have to be out of sync with one another. It's perfectly reasonable to assume that Jason's harsh upbringing has led him to being bitter and selfish. The problem is that the film doesn't seem to take this point of view. Once Jason is an adult, the focus is on his faults only and there's never a hint that his father was ever wrong at all. Add to that the shameful treatment of his saintly mother and Jason becomes downright villainous.Still, it's an interesting drama with a homespun folksy charm and healthy doses of humor sprinkled throughout. The leads are all good. Guy Kibbee, Charles Coburn, Gene Lockhart, Charley Grapewin, and Sterling Holloway are among the wonderful character actors who brighten things up. Adorable Ann Rutherford is always nice to see, even though she gets little to do here but look pretty. The most famous scene from the movie is where Abraham Lincoln (John Carradine) lays the verbal smack down on Jason. This scene is mocked by many but I loved it. Was it hokey? Sure, but it was also fun and added a nice twist to the movie's climax. A better movie than I think its given credit for being. Stewart and Huston fans should enjoy it.

Michael_Elliott Of Human Hearts (1938)** 1/2 (out of 4) This MGM film starts off as melodrama then moves to soap opera before eventually crashing as something completely cornball. Thankfully we have a terrific cast delivering fine performances or else this thing wouldn't work at all. It tells the story of a preacher (Walter Huston) who is constantly battling his son (James Stewart as adult, Gene Reynolds as child) who eventually wants to go in a different direction and become a doctor. The son goes off to medical school and constantly has to write home asking his poor mother (Beulah Bondi) for money and never really giving her the time or credit she deserves for her sacrifice. OF HUMAN HEARTS offers up a terrific cast but the story turns so incredibly cornball during the final fifteen-minutes that you can't help but throw your hands up in the air and wonder what the studio, writer and director were thinking. This is certainly far from a bad movie but this is due to the terrific cast including Huston who turns in another strong performance. He plays the part in the typical Huston fashion, which means integrity and stern. Stewart is also very good in his part as he manages to really make you believe how naive and rather stupid his character is when it comes to what his mother is doing for him. Reynolds plays the part as a child and he too is wonderful and works extremely well with Huston as the two are constantly going against one another. Bondi deserved her Oscar-nomination as her role doesn't feature too many lines but we get to know everything we should by her simple body movements and some extremely strong work with her eyes, which tells so much. The supporting cast includes good bits by Guy Kibbee as a cheap store owner, Gene Lockhart as a janitor, Ann Rutherford as Stewart's girlfriend and Charles Coburn as the town doctor/drunk. One of the best performances in the film comes from John Carradine who is only here for about four-minutes as he plays President Lincoln. The performance by Carradine is very striking because of how he plays the part. The actor comes off incredibly strong and you can't help but feel as if you're watching a real president. I was really shocked at how close Carradine looked like Lincoln so you have to give the make-up department a lot of credit. However, this scene is extremely bad as Lincoln calls Stewart in from the Civil War to jump on him for not writing to his mother!! This scene is so incredibly bad and it leads to an even worse conclusion that you can't help but wish Carradine had gotten a separate movie where he could have played this part. It also doesn't help that the screenplay doesn't make the preacher or the son characters you really care about because both of them seem way too self-centered. With that said, if you're a fan of any of the cast members then you might want to check this out but sadly it's yet another MGM that contains way too much sugar for its own good.

lois74 I found this movie very heartwarming as I am a big fan of Jimmy Stewart. I wish movies were still made like this - with heart. It can be all to true to raise a son or daughter who grow up and they kind of forget about their parents. While I admit there are some rather cheesy parts I'd rather watch that than some of the crap that comes out of Hollywood these days! As a mother myself, the parts where she is basically giving her very last dime to send to her son were all too true. What mother would not give everything she had to give her children if she though they needed it? When the son talks to Abraham Lincoln (yes, I believe that was a little far fetched) but I could see a mother writing, believing her son dead, as that could be the only explanation as to why he has not written. All in all this movie was very heartwarming!! I guess to watch it you have to have a heart!