Not having a Netflix dvd available in our house last night, for the second time, I watched this dvd that my brother in law (an avid classic, old tyme, movie fanatic) suggested when I shared with him all I was learning about my family’s adoption stories. Not long ago, I actually met online a woman who was adopted through Edna Gladney (not the woman herself but the organization that continues to this day). My oldest son asked if the text that appears with a patriotic musical background has held up well since 1941 and I told him not really.
It is a feel good story and I did enjoy the historical scenes of life in a different time period which is usually what I enjoy most in any really old movie. It tells the mostly true but fictionalized story of Edna Gladney, who helped orphaned children find homes and began a campaign to remove the word “illegitimate” from Texas birth certificates, despite the opposition of “good” citizens. The movie was well-received in it’s 1940s time period.
When the film premiered at Radio City Music Hall, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote “There is a shade too much of shining nobility in this film, too often tiny fingers tug deliberately on the heartstrings. And the dramatic continuity seems less spontaneous than contrived. The career of Mrs. Gladney is drawn out over a tedious stretch of time. But it is an affecting story and one which commands great respect … As pure inspirational drama with a pleasant flavor of romance, ‘Blossoms in the Dust’ should reach a great many hearts.” I find that an accurate assessment.
I am ready to GIVE away FREE my dvd copy of Blossoms in the Dust. If you would like to receive this (given the flaws acknowledged above), you can email me at dhyemm@hughes.net. Please put “Blossoms in the Dust” in the subject line. I will respond as soon as I see your email. I generally monitor it often.
Missing Mom 