JohnHowardReid It was once said that too many cooks spoil the broth. That little saying is also applicable to movies. Here we have a top-budget picture with such leads like Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Ward Bond and James Gleason that Lionel Barrymore has to be content with sixth billing and Esther Williams with eighth! M-G-M's top director, Victor Fleming, was in charge – and when I say in charge, I mean in charge. The nominal producer, Everett Riskin, was Fleming's servant rather than his master, and just to drive this point home, Fleming insisted that in addition to his director credit, he receive another credit on both the movie itself and on all its advertising, namely, "A Victor Fleming Production." But alas, the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo lets us all down badly. Admittedly there are two or three fairish action sequences, but the climax is tame. Worse still, the scenario and its dialog could justly be described as high grade soap opera – and like most soap operas, it is expensively mounted. The lavish sets are worthy of much better things, but the players – with the notable exception of Esther Williams (I can't remember who was the jealous rival who said she couldn't act) – display as little ability as Mr. Trumbo.

blitzebill i get some weird things happening to me once in a while.Spielberg's "Always," the remake of "A Guy Named Joe," was just on an Encore channel two nights ago (2/11/2009).Now here comes TCM replaying "A Guy..." right now.weird.anyway, this original is a decent film. Tracy of course shines in his performance. Van Johnson didn't seem to be into his role very much.Irene Dunne was OK.Maybe he was having an off-season for acting.but the real beauty of this film are the flying sequences. Same for "Always."here it's the P-38. And what flying!I need to buy these 2 films.there is some nice sentimentality in this film, nostalgia.it was a good idea for a film.

bkoganbing This is a wonderful romantic picture set in World War II and I have to say Spencer Tracy has almost as much chemistry with Irene Dunne as he does with Katharine Hepburn. During his career Spencer Tracy was basically two types of character, the cryptic tough guy adventurer and later on a wise father figure. In A Guy Named Joe his Pete Sandidge gets to be both. But he has to get killed before he morphs into his second character.Spencer Tracy is an ace pilot who's over in the European Theatre and his girlfriend, Irene Dunne is also a pilot, a la Amelia Earhart. She's forever worried about the risks he takes and then her wishes turn into reality as he gets himself killed. Of course he's not quite ready to enter the pearly gates. It seems as though Heaven has an Air Corps advisory program for ghosts to advise living pilots and Spence's first assignment is Van Johnson. Wouldn't you know it, Van's the guy that's getting Irene on the rebound. Tracy's not enough of a ghost yet that the old green-eyed monster isn't grabbing hold of him. So.............................With Tracy being dead, the possibilities of endings are limited. But it's at this point that Tracy grows into the father figure character we know him better from in his later work.Van Johnson's career got a big boost from this film. He's previously been in mostly B films, a lot of them as successor to Lew Ayres in the later in the Dr. Gillespie series. He was injured in a motorcycle accident during the shooting and Spencer Tracy threatened to walk off the picture if Van was replaced. Van healed and the film started him into the upward path of his career.Irene Dunne who did almost as many musicals as straight drama in the 1930s got to sing in this film. That's always a plus. Here she sings a great rendition of I'll Get By which was enjoying a revival of popularity in the World War II years.Rounding out the supporting cast are Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, James Gleason, Barry Nelson, and Don DeFore all performing to their usual standards of excellence.A really great romantic film like they don't make any more.

Dehlia_ This is a so-so film that was remade into the so-so Always. Just to make matters worse, there is no one named Joe. Spencer Tracy plays Pete, a WWII fighter pilot with a best friend and a girlfriend (the always irritating Irene Dunne). When Pete dies, he becomes a specialized guardian angel, training pilots from the beyond. Eventually, his trainee falls in love with his former girlfriend. The movie features an absolutely outstanding performance by Tracy -- even for Tracy, and some nice stuff about letting go. It also features some mixed patriotic/metaphysical preaching about war or honor or something that was so gobbledygooky I failed to understand it -- and I LIKE that sort of thing. 6/10