It’s hard to fathom that there was once a time when illegitimate children were branded as such on their birth certificates, a permanent stamp of disapproval they would be forced to bear their whole lives. This legal branding would be looked upon with disdain and scorn from pious people who would blame the children for the sins of their parents and such a mark would often stand in the way of marriages and happiness because no “proper” family would want one of these illegitimates marrying into their household. Often times these children were never told they were illegitimate, only discovering it when they applied for a marriage license and their birth records came to light. This is how things were for generations and getting it changed would require someone strong willed and determined enough to brave the state government and the self proclaimed league of christian decency. Blossoms in the Dustis a fictionalized account of the real life woman who did just that.
Edna Kahly (Greer Garson) and her adoptive sister Charlotte (Marsha Hunt) are both set to be married. Complications arise on both fronts however. Edna finds herself being pursued by Sam Gladney (Walter Pidgeon), a bank clerk who seems unfazed that she is already engaged to another man. Charlotte gets confronted by her expectant mother-in-law who stands in the way of the marriage because it becomes known she, Charlotte, was an illegitimate child. Charlotte was unaware of this information and that, coupled with the venomous response she is getting from her fiancé’s mother, drives her to commit suicide. Edna falls in love with Sam, breaks off her engagement and marries him instead. Shortly afterwards she has a son but the delivery was difficult and she’s told she cannot have another. Tragedy strikes the young family when their son is killed in a senseless accident. Edna buries the pain, refusing to even consider adopting and opening her heart to another child. Eventually she forms a daycare, taking care of the children of women who have to work and can’t watch them themselves.
Sam’s business goes bankrupt and the two have to sell everything and start over in a new location, Fort Worth, Texas. While there a chance encounter in a courthouse brings to Edna’s attention a real problem involving the illegitimate orphans in the community. No one wants to adopt them because of their status and the state seems only interested in shuffling them off to orphanages. Their birth certificates are permanently labeled illegitimate which will follow them for the rest of their lives. To combat this, Edna first opens an adoption service that doesn’t segregate or label the illegitimate children. Later she will take the law to the courts in an attempt to get this branding removed permanently from all birth records.
This is a heartwarming tale about a woman who braved the odds and made the lives of countless children better through the removal of a social stigmatism. It raised awareness of a very real issue in society, one that still exists in some forms to this day. There are still way too many orphans that struggle to find a good home and many are judged by the circumstances surrounding their birth. It was even worse back in the early 1900’s when the word illegitimate came up on every birth record or unknown parentage. It would come up whenever someone applied for a marriage license, a passport, and many other things that would bring that status to light. Women, like Charlotte, who found out when applying for a marriage license that they were illegitimate would find themselves in a situation where either the groom or the groom’s family were opposed to the union over nothing more than a single word stamped on their birth record.
Greer Garson is flawless in her portrayal of Edna. This is a woman who has lost nearly everything in her life, her husband, her child, her adopted sister. She has known a lot of pain and suffering. When a young woman comes to her with a large amount of money to donate towards the well being of the kids, Edna suspects something is off. It doesn’t take long to ascertain this young woman, engaged to be married, has discovered that she is one of the illegitimate and intends to end her own life. You can see in Edna’s face that she is thinking of Charlotte as she consoles the woman and talks her down from her suicidal intents. This scene alone merits Greer Garson’s Academy Award nomination. There is a tremor in her voice that betrays the emotions welling up behind her façade as she realizes exactly what is going on in this girl’s mind. This exact same tremor is apparent as she addresses the senators over getting the bill passed that will remove this stigma from people’s birth records. “There are no illegitimate babies,” she calls down to them, “only illegitimate parents.” Greer Garson was a wonderful actress and it is apparent here, early in her career.
If there is one thing I can fault this picture for it is how the first half of the film is written and edited. When Edna is first propositioned by Sam she comes home in an angry huff, insulted by his romantic gestures. The same goes in the following scene at a gathering when he shows up again. She dances with him reluctantly, then quickly returns to her fiancé, determined to rebuff Sam. The scene cuts away to Sam leaving town on the train only for Edna to show up and forlornly wave goodbye to him from the station. We get closeups of romantic letters between the two leading up to the engagement being broken off so she can marry Sam instead. This transition from the dance to the train station is abrupt and there is no indication leading up to it that she has softened in any way towards him, yet she has. It’s head scratching why this was done this way. The same thing happens later when she goes from refusing to even consider taking in a child to suddenly running a full on day care service. This film was nominated for several Academy Awards but the screenwriting and editing were not among them.
Nitpicks aside this is a fine film with a lot of heart. It doesn’t shy away from manipulating the heart strings with copious shots of little kids playing, crying, and, most egregious, Tony (Pat Barker) who is sickly. Edna grows so attached to him that when a potential family comes along she doesn’t want to give him up. This is emotional manipulation at its best, putting young faces on issues of the day. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that adoption rates rose after this film’s release. This film sparked Greer Garson’s career and she would become one of the biggest stars of the decade. Even now it is apparent why she had that reputation. Hers is a commanding presence. She would go on to co-star with Walter Pidgeon a total of eight times becoming one of the golden era of Hollywood’s most popular on screen couples. That all started here with a little movie that had a big message, one of compassion and love.
Academy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Motion Picture: Irving Asher
Best Actress: Greer Garson
Best Cinematography (color): Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene
Best Art Direction (color): Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary and Edwin B. Willis (won)
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Release Date: July 25, 1941
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and Felix Bressart
Directed By: Marvyn LeRoy
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