This is not the most spectacular "women in war" movie ever made, but Robert Wise didn't disappoint either.
The focus of this film is on Jean Simmons, which was a little disappointing for me because I watched it for Joan Fontaine. Her screen time is pretty much focused into a 20 minutes sequence showing Anne falling in love in Dick (Richard Bates), him shipping off to Tawara, ending with the despair on her face when Paul Newman told her that causality list is still top-secret. To top it off, the script annoyingly turned Anne's tragedy into a happy ending - having Anne receiving telegram and a large sum of money from her mother-in-law, a congressman writing to the Marines demanding that she be sent back as royalties. The audience is led to believe that Dick was from a good, wealthy family and Anne and her little boy will live happily ever after. If you want to see a more realistic look on how the foreign war brides adjust to their American life without their husbands, I recommend Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth".
The best developed story line is of course the relationship between Paul Newman's Jack and Jean Simmons's Barbara. It's a gentle but thoughtful criticism of the war marriages of 1940's, which Hollywood was beginning to examine during the 50's. And the film took its time bring them together, which makes the feelings Jack and Barbara have for each other more believable than that of Anne and Dick's. Again, I would have liked it better if they didn't end up together. But then, these four girls have been through so much.....and it never hurts to look into those blue eyes of Mr. Newman's as he says "I don't love you" (yeah right!)
The focus of this film is on Jean Simmons, which was a little disappointing for me because I watched it for Joan Fontaine. Her screen time is pretty much focused into a 20 minutes sequence showing Anne falling in love in Dick (Richard Bates), him shipping off to Tawara, ending with the despair on her face when Paul Newman told her that causality list is still top-secret. To top it off, the script annoyingly turned Anne's tragedy into a happy ending - having Anne receiving telegram and a large sum of money from her mother-in-law, a congressman writing to the Marines demanding that she be sent back as royalties. The audience is led to believe that Dick was from a good, wealthy family and Anne and her little boy will live happily ever after. If you want to see a more realistic look on how the foreign war brides adjust to their American life without their husbands, I recommend Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth".
The best developed story line is of course the relationship between Paul Newman's Jack and Jean Simmons's Barbara. It's a gentle but thoughtful criticism of the war marriages of 1940's, which Hollywood was beginning to examine during the 50's. And the film took its time bring them together, which makes the feelings Jack and Barbara have for each other more believable than that of Anne and Dick's. Again, I would have liked it better if they didn't end up together. But then, these four girls have been through so much.....and it never hurts to look into those blue eyes of Mr. Newman's as he says "I don't love you" (yeah right!)