There was a special quality to family-friendly dramas of classic Hollywood that modern films are not able to replicate as well. When you think of a family film these days, it would be fair to say there is a steeper divide between how creatives cater to a younger crowd and how they cater to adults. Over the years, children have become more and more powerful in dictating what their parents consume instead of the other way around. It was not as rare to get a film that tackled big themes of growing up, personal responsibility and death that would speak equally to audiences young and old. A perfect example of this is the 1946 drama The Yearling from director Clarence Brown (Anna Karenina) based on the 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Not only did it tell a kid-friendly story of a young boy and a rambunctious deer, but it spoke to larger issues that made it a box office hit for all audiences. This “family film” even went on to be nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture. Such a story would never be handled with such care these days, so you have to appreciate what cinema has provided in the past.
The reputation of your film is helped a great deal when you have someone like the great Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird, The Stalking Moon) in a leading role. Peck takes on the role of Ezra “Penny” Baxter, a confederate soldier turned pioneer farmers in a small Florida town in 1878. He lives a mostly peaceful existence with his wife, Ora (Jane Wyman, All That Heaven Allows), and his precocious son, Jody (Claude Jarman Jr., Rio Grande). In an interesting bit of flipping of the typical gender roles, Jody has a warm and loving relationship with his father who often quietly encourages his more rambunctious tendencies. The same cannot be said for Jody’s relationship with his mother, who presents as emotionally distant a lot of the time due to being haunted by the deaths of the other children she has had over the years. Ora appears downright contemptuous of Jody at times, but then you see the sadness behind Wyman’s eyes and remember the incredibly hard life she lived up until this point and how afraid she is of opening herself up to loving Jody. It is a complex dynamic that is not often explored on screen in a family film.
For as much star power the adults in the cast bring to the story, this is Jody’s coming-of-age story. This young boy has grown up without knowing any siblings, and he is desperate to have a companion in the form of a pet. The conflicting parental philosophies keep this from happening for a long time, but in the meantime Jody gets exposed to the world by accompanying his dad on activities such as a bear hunt, going to the neighbor’s house and heading to town to secure supplies. The bear-tracking scene is one of the most intense in the entire film as a trio of hunting dogs go after the bear with everything they have. The credits say there were no animals harmed in the film, but I have never wanted to see a behind-the-scenes feature on how they shot a scene more than this one. Jody experiences a whole range of emotions during the brief period of time we follow him. There is a lot he does not understand about the world, but through experiencing the best and worst that it has to offer, he gets a new perspective that radiates throughout the family unit.
This film does a great job of bringing this way of life to the silver screen in a believable manner, but one of the frustrating aspects about the narrative is how long it takes for Jody to get his promised baby deer in the story. It is over an hour before you get to the deer, so many of the scenes beforehand can feel a bit superfluous to less patient audience members. The deer is pivotal to Jody’s personal growth and taking on of responsibility, but there are parallel events happening along with his new companion that ratchets up the drama and heartbreak of the story even more. Those who go into this film wanting to see a cute story about a boy and his deer will probably walk away disappointed. This powerful journey is much more interested in the relationship between a parent and child and all the complexities within. The entire cast brings supreme grace and nuance to these performances in a way that cuts you right to the core. The Yearling is often discussed amongst the saddest movies ever made, but honestly it is not for the reasons you would think. There are a lot of emotions to grapple with that are not sitting easily on the surface. It is hard to imagine a modern family film tackling such weighty topics in such a fulfilling way.
Video Quality
Warner Archive presents The Yearling with a spectacular new 1080p master transfer sourced from a 4K scan of the original Technicolor negatives. Warner Archive has been knocking it out of the park lately with eye-popping Technicolor films to Blu-Ray, and we could not be happier about it. The film appears to be entirely free of dirt and damage, which makes this classic tale feel that much more engrossing. The level of detail and clarity is stunning with the appropriate amount of natural film grain intact. The film features some fabulous colors within the landscapes and lighting that pop off the screen with an immense vibrancy. The black levels are incredibly deep with an impressive stability throughout. There does not appear to be any jarring digital anomalies such as compression artifacts, banding or any other such issues. This presentation garners flawless marks for Warner Archive.
Audio Quality
Warner Archive has delivered a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio presentation that is simply lovely. Dialogue is the driving force of this film, and it comes through clearly from beginning to end. When it comes to the music in this feature, the track is in rare form with its handling of the different core elements. The buoyant score from Herbert Stothart feels almost like another character in the film and it comes through flawlessly with remarkable fidelity. The track balances vocals with the environmental sounds with magnificent clarity. Even in the most active moments such as the wild bear tracking scene, there are no moments where the track ever appears as if it will fail to maintain its stability. Warner Archive has provided an A+ audio presentation that does not exhibit any glaring signs of age-related wear-and-tear. The disc also comes with optional English (SDH) subtitles.
Special Features
- Tom & Jerry Cartoon – The Cat Concerto: A nearly eight-minute short featuring the cat and mouse duo in which feature the two facing off at a piano concert. This is flat-out hilarious.
- Screen Guild Players Radio Broadcast: A thirty-minute audio version of the story with the screen actors reprising their roles in a condensed version of the story.
- Theatrical Trailer: A minute-long trailer which contains no actual footage but plays up the acclaim of the novel along with the star power.
Final Thoughts
The Yearling is a family film that tackles more serious themes than you might imagine based on the plot description. The scenes of a boy with his baby deer are impossibly precious, but this is only a minor part of a sprawling frontier narrative in which children have to grow up and face some harsh realities. It can be quite devastating at times, but also quite fulfilling thanks to the magnificent performances from the talented ensemble. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray with a practically flawless A/V presentation and a few interesting supplemental features. If you have any interest in this impactful family tale, you could not ask for better from this disc. Recommended
The Yearling can be purchased directly through the Warner Archive Amazon Store or various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
