The Worst Film Ever

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is de Havilland's personal favorite of her own movies. She won her first of two Best Actress Oscars for this movie. The movie starts in London during the Nazi bombings of WW II and then flashes back to Jody's memories as the teen-aged daughter of a small town druggist during WW I. There is something about this movie that I just don't like. Is it that most of the characters were not likable? Or is it that I personally thought Jody was always selfish to everyone, everywhere? One keeps wondering why she never "got on" with her personal life after giving her son up for adoption. Is this noble or right? It comes down to this: having a life full of love and memories or having one full of regrets and disappointments. For me, she chose the wrong path. Nothing was ever forced on HER the way she forced herself on her friends. For me, there was only one truly noble character in this movie, Lord Desham. Only he was not a mercenary. Only he knew what it was like to have lost everything and know that he had wasted so much of his life in its lonely misery.

I have long admired Olivia de Havilland, partly because she was one of the stars of my favorite film -- "Gone With The Wind". Somehow I had never seen "To Each His Own", so I was rather glad to finally catch it on TCM. Considering the hype around the film -- mostly due to de Havilland having received the Academy Award for her performance -- I was a tad bit disappointed. Yes, her performance is excellent, but the film itself is only (only?) very good.The story begins in London in World War II London, where Olivia is a fire warden. There she meets Lord Desham (Roland Culver), and at first they really grate on each other. Through an odd occurrence, however, they appear to possibly be headed for a long-term companionship. There's something about this part of the film that I found very boring.In flash backs we then learn Olivia's history. A young lady in an American small town, she awkwardly falls in love with a WWI pilot (John Lund) on a barnstorming trip selling war bonds. Jody is the belle of her small American hometown of Piersen Falls. They only have one night together, shortly after which he dies in the war...but not before that one night together ends in pregnancy. Again, this part of the film seems awkward to me, but it is surprising that the unwed pregnancy is handled rather so-whatish for 1946. Not wanting the town to know of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, she devises a plot to be able to claim her own baby as a war orphan. The plan goes terribly wrong, and the baby ends up the adopted son of an ex-boyfriend and his wife, crushing Olivia. She plots to win the boy back...and almost succeeds with her newfound fortune through another ex-suitor, but the child loves his adopted mother more than Olivia, so she gives the boy up.Heartbroken, Olivia goes to England to continue working in her new profession (cosmetics). During World War II, her son (also played by John Lund; quite the fatherly resemblance!!!!) becomes a pilot. On leave in London, he is met at the train station by Olivia who tries to pamper him with affection, but is flummoxed when he wants to get married to a WAC-type young lady. Lord Desham arranges a wedding by breaking England's typical wedding laws, and while Lund's helpful friend (Olivia) is dancing with Lund, he finally realizes she is his real mother.It's a good story, handled fairly well, but a bit unevenly.In terms of the acting, Olivia de Havilland is fine as the real mother; I'm not sure it was of Academy Award status, but may have been due to the famous lawsuit that freed her from her Warner Brothers contract.I was not so impressed with Mary Anderson as the adoptive mother; a bit too childishly vindictive, in my view, although that may have been the fault of director Mitchell Leisen. Roland Culver is fine as the British Lord Desham; very distinguished. Phillip Terry was a bit annoying as the other suitor, but much better once he became the husband of the adoptive mother; I wasn't very familiar with him, although he appeared in more than 80 movies. I always enjoy seeing Bill Goodwin, here as another suitor; he always seemed so comfortable on screen, but never made it beyond character acting. This was John Lund's first film, and a dual role at that. It seems to me that he never lived up to what was seen as his potential, but maybe that's just me since my introduction to him was in the Martin & Lewis debut film "My Friend Irma".Don't get me wrong. This is a very good film. I just don't feel that it quite lives up to the hype around it.

This is a beautifully acted and realized "soap" kind of mother love films, which done in 1946, has the ability to still bring down the toughest EVIL MEANIE to his or her knees. De Havilland is deserving of the Academy Award she won for her range and her excellence as a screen actress. She may not have come from the Method school of training or RADA but her varied performances which can quite literally be called a brilliant melange of characters in THE HEIRESS to SNAKE PIT in which she is as good as it gets in female roles. Charlie Brackett wrote a tight screenplay for what could have gone on for hours and the art direction and music all work along with one of those great supporting group of character actors of the day. All told, it is De Havilland's controlled and believable performance that make this a film a must see for the most hardened critic. Grown men will not admit to liking this film because it more than likely will bring a tear of two.....it is that good.

Olivia de Havilland won the Oscar for best actress in 1947 for "To Each his Own" a tearjerker, made in 1946. She was one of the great actresses of the day when movies were worth going to see. She made many good movies such as "Hush hush sweet Charlotte, Snake Pit are two good ones.They were released on DVD. But "To each his own is one of my personal favourites. 430 people on IMDb.com have rated this movie highly at 8/10 as of Sept./08, so why on earth has this good movie never been released on DVD. I am lucky to have it on video, but would rather have the DVD. In "To each His own", Olivia is Jody Norris, a small town girl working in her fathers store. She meets a handsome young air force pilot and they fall in love. He leaves to go to war and Olivia finds herself going to be a single mother. In those days young women were isolated and not supported when having a baby out of wedlock. Nothing like today. Olivia has a lot of heartache to go through, has the baby but faces further heartbreak. Her life moves on after she has the baby, who she was not able to keep, but I won't say any more. Get a hanky out for the ending. Studios, one of you need to get this movie out on DVD. If you can release a lot of junky movies on DVD, you can release this good classic on DVD. It would sell well. I'm tired waiting and getting older by the day. I've got about 100 good DVD movies, and need the DVD of this one as soon as possible.