Movie Stats:
Released 1944 (USA)
American, in English (very minor, non-translated Yiddish)
Director - John Cromwell
Stars - Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple, Joseph Cotten, Monty Woolley
Plot Summary:
When her husband enlists in the military during WWII, Anne Hilton (Colbert) struggles to raise their two daughters Jane (Jones) & Brig (Temple) amid hardships. Cotten co-stars as family friend Lt. Tony Willett & Woolley as Col. William G. Smollett, the Hiltons’ lodger.
Warnings:
None.
Bad Stuff:
It’s too long.
Because it came out during the war, it’s very preachy, often exhorting viewers to do everything they can to help the war effort. Also, it occasionally feels like a non-fiction school film, like, “These are the hardships you may face during war time!”
It’s extremely sentimental.
Good Stuff:
The acting is phenomenal.
It does an excellent job portraying how Jane & Brig grow and mature as people.
I liked that it showed how deeply people yearn for connection. People always yearn for connection, but in times of war, it seems more poignant. One of my favorite scenes was when Jane & her love interest Bill (Robert Walker) have a chance encounter with Hal Smith (Guy Madison). They spend an evening together, becoming friends, knowing that they will never see one another again, as Hal is hours away from being shipped out & isn’t from the area. It really touched me, that Jane & Bill would give a stranger that camaraderie he needed before he went off to possibly die.
About the Performance:
Colbert was fantastic! Anne is a woman who’s never had to do a day’s work in her life. She’s a housewife who’s had domestic help (Fidelia, portrayed by Hattie McDaniel), so she doesn’t even really know how to cook or clean. But she’s not a spoiled person. It’s enjoyable to watch her adapt and persevere with strength, determination, and a positive attitude. I found her quite believable.
Other performances of Colbert’s I’ve reviewed: It Happened One Night.
The Verdict:
I will admit that this movie definitely got on my nerves sometimes, mostly because of how preachy and sentimental it was. It’s sickly sweet and wholesome. However, I appreciated seeing the “other side” of war. Most war films are about the soldiers and/or the countries actively affected by the battles. It was nice to see a different perspective: what it was like for people left behind at home, what sort of privations they faced and how they faced them. Really, though, what makes this film is the performances. I can’t think of a weak link in the bunch.
I give the film 3.75 stars.
2 comments:
Nice! One of my reliable rants re: lack of women's stories is that we have tons of versions of men's war stories, but comparatively few stories of what was going on at home when the manly men were off at war. This fills this niche.
Also, this made me laugh: "Also, it occasionally feels like a non-fiction school film, like, 'These are the hardships you may face during war time!'"
For that matter, there aren't very many films (at least not famous ones) about women's experience of war on the front. Women may not have seen combat until recently, but since WWI at least, they've been on or near the front lines, experiencing many of the same horrors as the men. I'd watch a movie about a WWI nurse or a WWII WAC.
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