topaztuesday This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I see a lot of criticism here about the acting and the amount of overacting but that was normal for films in the 1940s, as the craft transitioned from live plays and poor quality black and white reels to full-length films. There also seems to be a real lack of understanding about what would have been appropriate behavior and conversation in the 1940s.Selznick did a wonderful job from the casting to the set to the music. I know that the film is based loosely on letters published in a ladies magazine-Redbook, I think-between a wife at home with the kids and her husband off fighting in the war. The cast is terrific. The budding romance is amazing, considering that the actor and actress playing the parts were in the middle of a divorce in real life. The props were simple and homely-many from Selznick's home because money was so tight at the time. I love Anne Hilton and Claudette Colbert became a favorite after seeing this film 30+ years ago.

mark.waltz Two years before Fredric March came home to his wife and children in "The Best Years of Our Lives", there was "Since You Went Away", the salute to the lonely wives waiting for their man to return. Of course, not every wife waiting for the spouse looked like Claudette Colbert, so it is no wonder that Claudette, thanks to painter Joseph Cotten, gets her own pin-up to remind the boys of what they were fighting for. Unlike other pin-up girls of the 1940's, Claudette had been around for a long time making movies, but she still looked gorgeous and could still pack in audiences during this time of her career.Usually cast in romantic comedies, Colbert rarely had a chance to show off her dramatic talents, although films such as "Drums Along the Mohawk", "Arise My Love" and "Boom Town" prove differently amongst her usual screwball antics. She's dealing with the typical crisis of wives during the war-not enough money coming in, bill collectors calling and problems with the children. In this case, its her two daughters, the beautiful Jennifer Jones and the precocious Shirley Temple. Forced to let her wonderful cook (Hattie McDaniel) go, Colbert turns to her social engagements for solace, and this includes luncheons with the snooty Agnes Moorehead who seems to be more interested in her own publicity than the one going on with the boys overseas. When Colbert rents a room to the elderly Monty Woolley, a crotchety old man who doesn't at all hit it off with either Temple or the family bulldog, Moorehead is aghast. Then, Jennifer Jones meets Woolley's handsome grandson (Robert Walker), and romance slowly blooms. One episode has Jones and Walker being hassled by a sailor (the very handsome Guy Madison) then bringing them along on their date, simply because they know he's lonely.As for Colbert's friendship with painter Cotten, its enough to get Moorehead suspicious again, but Colbert is totally loyal to her husband. Of course, the predictable telegram arrives, telling of her husband's absence, but in wartime, sometimes husbands do return, especially in Hollywood movies where for the most part, a happy ending was much needed. Among the major players, Temple is the weak spot, but her role really is limited, so that softens the blow of her sulking and pouty impish performance.This is the American homefront at its most clean-cut. Of course, not everybody lived the way Colbert and her family did, and even got free cooking to boot as at another point, the feisty McDaniel returns, "I needs my solitude and privitation", she claims, keeping the other position as a day job but needing a place to get away from the family she hasn't quite hit it off with as much as Colbert's. This is quite ironic considering Colbert's friendship with another movie maid, the magnificently sweet Louise Beavers just a decade before in the original "Imitation of Life". McDaniels is a lot more cynical yet equally as lovable as Beavers, so it is easy to see why certain film books sometimes confuse the two heavyset but wonderful black character actors.There's room for plenty of tears here as lovers are torn apart (the famous scene between Jones and Walker saying goodbye at the train depot) or Colbert dealing with a sudden telegram. Everything here is touching, and even if made in the typical Hollywood fashion, producer David O. Selznick and director John Cromwell get everything just right. Throw in a last minute war speech by the preacher (Lionel Barrymore) and you've got the feel-good war drama that provided hope for audiences around the country and even the world.

dougdoepke A 3-hour movie, even with a lot of action, is a tough go for any production company. There's no action here. But producer Selznick was shrewd enough to cast his epic with a bunch of charming actors. Sure, the storyline gets sticky at times. After all this is the American Home during wartime. Nonetheless, at its best, the cast generates a genuine feeling of family warmth, thanks mainly to Colbert, Jones, and Temple. Jones especially creates a lively and poignant young woman (Jane), who could stand in for the best of that challenged generation.The storyline is about what you'd expect for a Hollywood home front trying to cope with wars far away. There're the tentative romances among the young, the lonely wives waiting anxiously, the rationing and generally crowded conditions. Note though how easily strangers appear to mix under abnormal conditions. There is a sense of coming together because of the common sacrifice. Note too that the movie's one sour case comes from a woman, Emily (Moorehead), who won't give up her social pretensions. In short, she won't lower herself to join the bigger American family. Of course, there's the curmudgeonly colonel (Wooley), who starts off very aloof but gradually comes around. At the same time, some of his softening scenes are among the movie's best. Note too, how the African-American maid Fidelia (Mc Daniel) is included in the Hilton family even though she no longer works as their maid. The overall message here is a strong one, reflecting in idealized fashion the temper of the stressed-out time.I guess my main reservation is with Joe Cotten's role (Tony). He seems to exist only to provide a romantic complication for Anne (Colbert), while her husband is missing overseas. Then again, maybe Tony's meant to illustrate the temptations that exist when loved ones are parted, a common concern of the day. I guess I would have preferred an ending not quite so pat. But that would have brought down the spirit of wartime audiences already worried enough. Anyway, Selznick has managed to handle a tricky subject with just enough taste and charm to make the 3-hours a pleasant, if highly idealized, experience.

MartinHafer "Since You Went Away" would make an amazingly fitting film to watch along with "The Best Years of Our Lives". "Since You Went Away" is an incredibly well-crafted tale about one family as they deal with losses and separations caused by having the men in their lives serving in the armed forces. And, just as well-crafted, "The Best Years of Our Lives" shows men returning home to their families--like a fitting conclusion to "Since You Went Away". Both are highly emotional films, so be sure to have a Kleenex handy--but it's well worth it, as they are two of the very best films of the 1940s. While "The Best Years of Our Lives" won many Oscars (which it richly deserved), "Since You Went Away" only earned one--as the more schmaltzy "Going My Way" swept the Oscars that years. I really like "Going My Way", but it's simply not in the same league as this film--truly a must-see film of the era.The film begins with the man of the house having just left for the war. You never see the guy--just photos of the actor Neil Hamilton. Left behind are his adoring family--his wife (Claudette Colbert) and two daughters (Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple). Through the course of the film, the oldest daughter falls in love (with her real life husband at the time, Robert Walker), the family takes in a cranky boarder (Monty Woolley) and the wife entertains an old friend (Joseph Cotten). While the film is very deliberately paced and lacks excitement like a traditional movie, it is completely engaging throughout because the film is so well made. The acting is tops. The direction (more about that in a moment) is tops. And, the writing is tops. The film really pulls you into what it must have been like for the folks at home and your heart breaks several times through the course of the film--just like it happened with families during the war. In a way, it's like vicariously living through their lives.It's interesting that this David O. Selznick film is shear perfection--just like "Gone With the Wind". I say interesting because the meddling Selznick did EXACTLY what he did with this earlier film--he kept changing directors and actually filmed parts of the film himself because he was such a control freak. It paid off very well in both case--you'd never suspect multiple directors as the camera-work and mood are consistently wonderful.The bottom line is that the film is amazing and there is NOTHING negative in the least I could say about it. The film comes off as sincere, beautifully crafted and a wonderful glimpse into the past. See this film and you'll enjoy it from start to finish.By the way, as you watch the film, listen to the wonderful Max Steiner music. He is considered a genius at his craft and here he is at his best. Another thing to listen for are the wonderful nonsense words used by Hattie McDaniel in the film.