Nice, homey story of Norwegian farm family living in Wisconsin: Edward G. Robinson is the hard-working patriarch, Margaret O'Brien is his rambunctious, frequently teary-eyed child. An extremely sincere all-ages film, but also a bit plodding and corny. Robinson overcomes his miscasting with a heartfelt performance, O'Brien is typically fine, but it's Agnes Moorehead as the wife and mother who is really in tune with this material. The picture cannot escape saccharin, with several cloying sequences, but you can't say it doesn't have plenty of heart. The touching scene with the circus elephant is just one example of how the direction, the writing and the acting all work at once. **1/2 from ****
Review of Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
