Silver Screenings

Ingrid Bergman always gives an audience their money’s worth.

The legendary actress, born in Stockholm, Sweden, came to Hollywood in 1939, where she made such films as Casablanca (1942), The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958). She also won three Oscars, and was nominated for an additional four.

So, she knew a thing or two about being in the pictures and consistently gave stellar performances, even if she didn’t think the script was particularly good. One example is Adam had Four Sons (1941).

This is a period melodrama, set before, and immediately following, WWI. Bergman plays a fresh-off-the-boat French governess employed by a wealthy family with four lively boys. She becomes further ensconced in the household when their mother dies.

Alas, this is 1907 and the stock market crashes. The family loses their fortune, and Bergman is sent back to France.

What we’ve not told you is the pater familias, played by Warner Baxter, is still a handsome man, and when it breaks his heart to return Bergman to France, we’re heartbroken, too. But there’s No Other Way! He and his youngest son are forced to live in a Brooklyn apartment in reduced circumstances. What’s to be done?

Now, Bergman may not have felt this movie was award-winning material, but there are many things it does well. The understated farewell scene between Baxter and Bergman is one of them. As the two characters, hearts broken and miserable, say goodbye to each other, we the audience want to scream, “You could get married!”

But that doesn’t occur to them – or maybe it does, but you know how it is sometimes – and Bergman boards the ship to France.

This film pulls you in and, even though you see the tricks filmmakers are using to ensnare you, you can’t help but care about this family.

Bergman does return to the U.S., though, a decade later, just as WWI is drawing to a close. Baxter has summoned her because his manufacturing company made truckloads of wartime money. Even though the boys have grown and enlisted in the army, Baxter has not forgotten Bergman, and she, evidently, has not forgotten him.

Meanwhile, one of the sons has unexpectedly married a young woman with ulterior motives regarding his three brothers… if you know what we mean.

Bergman and Hayward dislike each other, and they engage in a restrained power struggle. Bergman is guarded, Hayward is brash. Yet Hayward asks the question we’ve all been wondering: “Why does a woman cross the ocean to be a governess to four grown men? Or is there another interest that brought you?”

Indeed. Bergman’s character has been in France for the last 10 years, four of those a World War, and she never married. It’s as though her character sat and waited until Baxter sent for her. That an attractive young woman would whittle away her youth in such a fashion is rather unlikely, but Bergman’s lost decade is not in the scope of this movie.

The 10-year waiting period, however, provides an interesting subtext to the increasing tension between Bergman and Hayward.

Hayward has no respect for Bergman and her long-suffering demeanour. As for Bergman, she sees through Hayward, and despises her dismantling the family.

Ultimately, this is a film about women: a dying mother, a spinster cousin, an unfaithful young wife, and a devoted governess. Adam and his four sons, despite having the movie named after them, are auxiliary characters.

Adam had Four Sons is based on the 1940 novel, Legacy, by Charles Bonner, who wrote four novels, 200+ published stories, and several film and television screenplays. He also worked as a consultant for a public relations firm.

This film was Bergman’s second in Hollywood, and it was directed by Gregory Ratoff, who also directed her first Hollywood feature, Intermezzo (1939).

“At last something my teeth could bite into, but it was not such a good apple,” Bergman later said, in regards to the 1941 melodrama. “We had a script to work with but the dialogue was made up minute by minute as we went along, and they had no idea how to end the picture. … [A] great affection for the crazy Gregory Ratoff, so it all left a very pleasant souvenir.”¹

Bergman is in excellent company in this melodrama. Warner Baxter has a thankless role, yet he always brings surprising depth to his characters. Susan Hayward, in one of her early films, is superb as a conniving gal with a take-no-prisoners vibe.

The film received mixed reviews when first released, but we think it’s withstood the Test of Time. If you’re in a mood for an Ingrid Bergman melodrama, or a melodrama that steadily builds tension, we recommend Adam had Four Sons.

This post is part of THE 8th WONDERFUL INGRID BERGMAN BLOGATHON, hosted by Wonderful World of Cinema.

Adam Had Four Sons starring Ingrid Bergman, Warner Baxter, Susan Hayward. Directed by Gregory Ratoff. Written by William Hurlbut & Michael Blankfort. Columbia Pictures, 1941, B&W, 81 mins.

Source

¹IMDb. (Retrieved August 26, 2026.) Adam had Four Sons (1941).