Sinclair Lewis was already an established and respected writer when he published his novel Dodsworth in 1929. An insightful critic of American society and capitalist values, he was known for creating complex, vibrant characters with a degree of sympathy that mitigated his often satirical approach. His greatest novels came prior to this, but Dodsworth was well received, and a year after its publication, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first American to be so honored, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." Critical opinion of Lewis's work has wavered over the years, although critics have noted his important influence on all 20th century literature that followed him, and in the 1920s and 30s, his books were enormously popular. Dodsworth was considered especially successful in tackling the theme of Americans in Europe familiar to readers of Henry James, but with a much more gentle view of the middle class than Lewis had exhibited in his earlier novels Babbitt and Main Street. He also showed Europe to be a liberating force for his title character, who suffers at the hands of his restless and scornful wife.

Three months after its publication, Dodsworth had sold 85,000 copies, and screenwriter-playwright Samson Raphaelson expressed an interest in making a dramatic adaptation. That never happened, but in 1932 Broadway producer Gilbert Miller struck a deal with playwright Sidney Howard, who by then had purchased the rights to the book, to create a theatrical version.

Sidney Howard already had a number of successful stage productions under his belt, as well as a Pulitzer Prize for his 1924 play They Knew What They Wanted, when he was hired by independent producer Sam Goldwyn to write and adapt screenplays. An Academy Award nominee for his screenplay of the Goldwyn/John Ford production of Lewis's Arrowsmith (1932), Howard thought Dodsworth would also make a fine film and brought it to the producer's attention in 1932. Goldwyn rejected it as a middle-age romance with no box office potential so Howard bought it himself for the stage.

Walter Huston began acting in 1909 and made his Broadway debut in 1924. Although he had been working frequently in films since 1929 and created memorable roles in several respected productions, he was not the typical Hollywood leading man and always retained his love of the stage. Nearly 50 when he was offered the part of Sam Dodsworth, he jumped at the chance to play Lewis's character. Fay Bainter, who had been on stage for several years, was cast as his wife, Fran. The production was a smash New York success, and toured the country to great acclaim for almost a year.

Huston credited much of his success in the stage version to his years acting in front of a camera. "I was certainly a better actor after my five years in Hollywood," he said. "I had learned to be natural-never to exaggerate. I found I could act on the stage in just the same way as I acted in a studio: using my ordinary voice, eliminating gestures, keeping everything extremely simple."

With the play a huge hit, Goldwyn changed his mind about the property and bought it from Howard (who was also secured to write the screenplay) for $60,000, a much higher price than he would have paid when Howard first brought it to him. "I don't care," Goldwyn told Howard. "This way I buy a successful play. Before it was just a novel."

Goldwyn's first choice to direct the picture was Gregory La Cava but he was so impressed with William Wyler's work on These Three (1936), adapted from Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour, that he decided to offer him the picture.

Wyler had seen Howard's play in New York and Cincinnati and was very enthusiastic about doing the film. He was also eager to work with Walter Huston again after their good experience together on A House Divided (1931).

Howard already had a considerable leg up on writing the screenplay, since his stage adaptation, with its 14 different scenes, already had a slight cinematic feel to it (it's possible that was intentional as a selling point for the studios in Hollywood). It also had the strong advantage of being created with the help of Sinclair Lewis himself, who was surprisingly adaptable to the needs of the stage and amenable to making major changes. Sam's interior monologue from the book was jettisoned, and with Lewis's help, Howard made the character stronger and more confident. The stage script had also already successfully brought the focus of the story down to the crumbling marriage while remaining true to the novel's larger spirit, and with the knowledge that the strongest suit of all - Huston's performance -was already included in the contract, Howard felt confident about making the transition to the screen.

Wyler thought Howard's script excellent but still wanted to do more work on it and secured Goldwyn's permission to work with the writer. The two liked each other and collaborated easily at either Howard's Manhattan apartment or the city's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where Wyler was staying. They came up with new details about the Dodsworths' Grand Tour that weren't in the novel. Most of the newly invented material, however, never made it to the screen.

One aspect of the story in which Wyler and Howard were in sync was the depiction of Fran, who the director felt came off as "a bitch at the outset." Howard, too, feared the story could be harsh in tone, particularly where the character of the wife was concerned. They decided to make a case for Fran as someone who had put in long service maintaining a home and family for a heavily career-focused man and who feared advancing age and the prospect of life passing her by.

Maria Ouspenskaya, Harlan Briggs and Beatrice Maude were all retained for the film from the original stage production. But Fay Bainter, who played Fran Dodsworth on stage and only had one film to her credit, was bypassed in favor of Ruth Chatterton, also a renowned stage actress who had enjoyed brief movie stardom in the late 20s and early 30s. Bainter, however, would go on to a long and successful screen career after the year of Dodsworth's release.

Huston wanted his wife, Nan "Ninetta" Sunderland, to play the part of the beautiful sensitive widow Edith Cortright, whom Sam meets on his journey through Europe. She had played the part on stage and had a few small film roles to her credit, but Goldwyn decided against her. He wanted relative unknown Rosalind Russell or silent-era beauty Dolores Costello, eager to return to the screen after her recent divorce from John Barrymore. Wyler liked the idea of Costello but nixed Russell as not having a "striking enough" personality. Goldwyn finally settled on Mary Astor, a veteran of more than 80 films in her 15 years in movies.

Goldwyn must have felt good about the commercial potential of the story alone because the final casting did not reflect the top drawing stars of the day. Now in middle age, Huston had never been a major star, and his last few pictures before returning to the stage had not done well. Chatterton was already at the end of her screen career after a few brief years of stardom. And despite roles in a number of big pictures, Astor's name could not be counted on to sell tickets. Dodsworth had neither opportunities to showcase the glamorous young stars who had risen to prominence with the advent of sound nor the prospect of appealing to the growing audience of young moviegoers, but Goldwyn stood by his decision to make a movie about "a man who held onto his pride-then surrendered his soul to love."

by Rob Nixon