Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (Henry King, 1952)

One of the genres in which Henry King excelled was the very vaguely defined ‘Americana films’, scarcely appreciated outside their country of origin. I’m afraid that his affinity with something that many find uninteresting if not repellent will always hinder a fuller understanding of King’s cinema. Of the more than 100 films that he directed – at least half of which should be known by anyone dealing with Hollywood cinema – a good number can be labeled as Americana films, with Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie as the most naked and pure expression of this theme. People allergic to all things ‘American’ – Apple pie, hot dogs, chewing gum, marshmallows, Aunt Jemima Pancake Syrup and Life Savers – would probably miss King’s never-too-optimistic uncovering of warmth, humour, generosity, affection and resilience in his characters.

King may often be labelled as ‘conventional’ and ‘conservative’, but I dare say that no other director in American cinema of this period could cover half a century in about 100 minutes, to have the courage (with the exception of Hitchcock) to eliminate one of the central characters halfway through the picture and, with the exception of Joseph Losey, to cast David Wayne in the main role, without trying to make him sympathetic to the audience.

Publicado en el Catálogo de “Il Cinema Ritrovato – XXXIII edizione” (2019)