Ingrid Bergman plays a young good natured governess named Emilie who comes over to America to live and work for a rich family in New York circa the early 1900's. Warner Baxter plays Adam the father of four boys who is struck with double tragedy when his wife dies in the first part of the film and he goes out of business and is forced to give up his estate.

Ten years pass and Adam has risen back to the top of the social ladder with his boys in tow. Adam invites Emilie back to the estate – partly because he is comfortable with her presence and partly because he wants a replacement for his wife – but just as she is settling in the Great War comes and the four boys join the army.

Meanwhile one of the boys has married a sassy young woman named Hester (Susan Hayward) who it turns out is more interested in what she can gain from the rich family than she is in settling down; one of the older boys comes home and she is all over him. It soon becomes apparent to Emilie that she must do something to stop the opportunistic Hester from destroying the fine young men and the family.

How will she do it?

Adam Had Four Sons was directed by Gregory Ratoff at Columbia Picture studios and is the kind that Hollywood cranked out monthly in the 1940's. It is a little bit earnest but it has all the attributes of the kind of craftsmanship and skilled balance of story and content that we don't see much of today. [Notice the compositions and editing in chapters 8 and 9 for an example].

Video:
The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and looks okay. There are many blemishes in the print and at times it seems to pulse. However you can see the grain quality, which I consider a good thing since it looks more like a film than a clean Digital image.

Audio:
The audio is remastered in high definition Dolby Digital and sound good. There is not much range in the audio, however, and the contrasts between quite and loud sounds is noticeable.

Extras:
There is only a theatrical trailer.

Overall:
Adam Had Four Sons is a good Hollywood films from the 1940's. It may be a little too sincere and innocent by today's standards – although this adds a bit of unpredictability to the whole thing since it doesn't take the kind of soap opera turns we are accustomed to seeing today. The DVD is okay in all departments although there are no extras.