Dodsworth is a 1936 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor and David Niven.

Recently retired auto magnate Samuel Dodsworth and his narcissistic wife Fran, while on a grand European tour, discover that they want very different things out of life, straining their marriage.

In 1990, Dodsworth was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

Sam talks of the extended trip to Europe he is taking with his wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton), who feels trapped by their dull social life.

Sam talks frequently to Edith Cortright (Mary Astor), an American divorcee who resides in Italy, who is sympathetic to his eagerness to expand his horizons and learn new things.

Before long Fran becomes infatuated with cultured playboy Arnold Iselin (Paul Lukas), who invites her to Montreux and later Biarritz.

At home, Sam is warmly welcomed by friends, as well as his daughter (Kathryn Marlowe) and new son-in-law (John Payne), who have taken up residence in Fran's and his mansion.

That night Fran goes dancing again with the charming, young Baron Kurt von Obersdorf (Gregory Gaye) who tells her he would marry her if she were free.

To avoid the press, Astor lived in her dressing room bungalow during part of the production, working on the film during the day and appearing in court in evening sessions.

Frank S. Nugent, writing for The New York Times in September 1936, described the film as "admirable", and added that director Wyler "has had the skill to execute it in cinematic terms, and a gifted cast has been able to bring the whole alive to our complete satisfaction ...

The film version has done more than justice to Mr. Howard's play, converting a necessarily episodic tale ... into a smooth-flowing narrative of sustained interest, well-defined performance and good talk.

"[8] Time magazine said it was "directed with a proper understanding of its values by William Wyler, splendidly cast, and brilliantly played".

Among the film industry's leading critics in 1936, the entertainment trade publication Variety bestowed perhaps the highest praise on the production:Dodsworth is a superb motion picture, which yields artistic quality and box office in one elegantly put together package.

He transposes his own stage play version of Sinclair Lewis into a picture that uses the camera to open up the vista a little and enrich a basically fertile theme.

Greene criticized the director's overuse of music which he described as "almost incessant", however he praised the "naturalness" of the picture as a quality all too rare in film.