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      These Wilder Years

      Released Aug 17, 1956 1 hr. 31 min. Drama List
      Reviews 53% 50+ Ratings Audience Score The wealthy yet unfulfilled Steve Bradford (James Cagney) decides it's time to atone for a troubling event. He returns to his old college town, where in his younger days he gave up for adoption a child he fathered out of wedlock. He goes to the local orphanage searching for clues and meets Ann Dempster (Barbara Stanwyck), who runs the agency. Though they are drawn to one another, Ann refuses to release any information to Steve. So out of desperation he takes legal action against her. Read More Read Less

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      Audience Reviews

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      Steve D Nonsensical but well acted with satisfying end. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Much as I adore both Barbara Stanwyck and James Cagney, this film is a real snooze, and one to miss. Director Roy Rowland drags scenes out interminably, and the overall tone of the film is far too sedate. Stanwyck and Cagney are for the most part pretty wooden, and when they do try to breathe life into their lines, it's with little effect. The film lacks any real emotional punch, with the exception of one scene relatively late, when the young man walks away from Cagney down the street, one of the few I really liked. Otherwise it feels like a bad made for TV movie, cheesy music and all. It's a bit of shame, since this film has the distinction that it was the only time Stanwyck and Cagney appeared together. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Cagey and Stanwyck only movie together, late in their careers. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Cagney makes a rare appearance in a soap opera as a man trying to find his son that he gave up for adoption. It's an intereting enough of story, but it's a bit too slow paced for my liking. Still, Cagney's quest for redemption at the cost of his reputation and Barbara Stanwyck as the orphanage director made it compelling enough to hold my interest, but I think a more interesting of story would have started with Cagney trying to reconnect with the son he'd given up. This film was also the first film appearance of Michael Landon. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member good combo in this melodrama from MGM stanwyck+ cagney= your moneys worth. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member James Cagney was such a good actor and this film made later on in his career shows just how good he was. A middle-aged man who is successful and prosperous looks back to one bad decision he made as a youth - and goes looking for the son he denied 20 yrs earlier. A very good story with a lot of depth and heart that holds up well today. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      These Wilder Years

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (2) Critics Reviews
      Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine The movie is better than you might imagine from an outline of its soap-opera story. Oct 23, 2019 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The film features for the first time, late in their careers, veteran stars James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck. Rated: B- Jul 11, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis The wealthy yet unfulfilled Steve Bradford (James Cagney) decides it's time to atone for a troubling event. He returns to his old college town, where in his younger days he gave up for adoption a child he fathered out of wedlock. He goes to the local orphanage searching for clues and meets Ann Dempster (Barbara Stanwyck), who runs the agency. Though they are drawn to one another, Ann refuses to release any information to Steve. So out of desperation he takes legal action against her.
      Director
      Roy Rowland
      Screenwriter
      Frank Fenton
      Distributor
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
      Production Co
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Aug 17, 1956, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Mar 22, 2016
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