The cast is tremendous in here; lots of big names. That's the good news, at least for most male viewers, because the bad news is that this is a woman's movie from start-to-finish.
From the moment Claudette Colbert comes home after seeing her husband off for war, the tears start and the women's soap opera begins. It goes on and on, too, because this film is almost three hours long. That is a lot of time for a lot of heartaches. How many hankies is that? It has to be the whole Kleenex box!
I'm not making fun of it. The topic - women seeing their men off to war and never knowing if they'll come back alive - has been a tragic one since mankind began.
The cast in here was astonishing with people such as Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Guy Madison, Shirley Temple, Monty Whooley, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorhead, Craig Stevens, Keenan Wynn, Robert Walker and Lionel Barrymore.
I found no fault with any of them expect perhaps Temple, whose young-adult roles never matched her little girl performances, except for "The Bachelor and The Bobbysoxer."
It was interesting to see a young Stevens, who 15 years later starred in television's "Peter Gunn" series. It also was a bit odd seeing Jones and Walker together because they got divorced in 1944, the same year this movie was released. This must have been awkward for them to film since they obviously were not doing well in their real-life marriage.
This movie isn't all tears. There are some genuinely warm moments in here, including a very nice Christmas scene. People generations ago were more hopeful and optimistic, too. Today's world is much more cynical, so this film makes some critics unhappy because they think the people are too goody-goody. Well, too bad for them. For me, that's part of the charm of classic era movies: nicer attitudes.
The photography was pretty good, too. There are lots of lights-and-shadows. Is the too long and should it have been edited? Yes, but it's still an emotional experience for many viewers, even 60 years later.
From the moment Claudette Colbert comes home after seeing her husband off for war, the tears start and the women's soap opera begins. It goes on and on, too, because this film is almost three hours long. That is a lot of time for a lot of heartaches. How many hankies is that? It has to be the whole Kleenex box!
I'm not making fun of it. The topic - women seeing their men off to war and never knowing if they'll come back alive - has been a tragic one since mankind began.
The cast in here was astonishing with people such as Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Guy Madison, Shirley Temple, Monty Whooley, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorhead, Craig Stevens, Keenan Wynn, Robert Walker and Lionel Barrymore.
I found no fault with any of them expect perhaps Temple, whose young-adult roles never matched her little girl performances, except for "The Bachelor and The Bobbysoxer."
It was interesting to see a young Stevens, who 15 years later starred in television's "Peter Gunn" series. It also was a bit odd seeing Jones and Walker together because they got divorced in 1944, the same year this movie was released. This must have been awkward for them to film since they obviously were not doing well in their real-life marriage.
This movie isn't all tears. There are some genuinely warm moments in here, including a very nice Christmas scene. People generations ago were more hopeful and optimistic, too. Today's world is much more cynical, so this film makes some critics unhappy because they think the people are too goody-goody. Well, too bad for them. For me, that's part of the charm of classic era movies: nicer attitudes.
The photography was pretty good, too. There are lots of lights-and-shadows. Is the too long and should it have been edited? Yes, but it's still an emotional experience for many viewers, even 60 years later.