jjnxn-1 Selznick's tribute to the women on the home front during WWII is a fine piece of entertainment with a flock of excellent performances. Claudette Colbert gives the film a solid center as the sheltered, disconnected wife who slowly becomes aware of the importance of her involvement in the war effort. Shirley Temple is pert as the chipper younger daughter, however Jennifer Jones is really terrible in her early scenes, she's too old to be believable as a teen and by trying to compensate for that with preciousness she is extremely irritating. She's much better in the second part of the film when her character matures. Her scenes with Robert Walker are lovely, odd since they were married in real life and breaking up during the making of the film which he took very badly. The picture itself is quite long but once you get use to its rhythm it flows right along with some powerful scenes and beautiful imagery.

writers_reign I saw this first on television long after the war had ended so that theoretically it had lost its relevance and sense of immediacy, nevertheless I was moved to tears several times even though I realized I (i.e. the audience) was being manipulated. I found it boasted some outstanding ensemble acting in which - in something of a contradiction i n terms - several performances could be singled out as momentous; if these were led by Claudette Colbert it is fitting as she is the very core of the film but she has first rate support from Joseph Cotton, Hattie MacDaniel, Monty Woolly and Agnes Moorhead who really nails the bitch totally lacking in self-awareness. Special mention too for the real-life husband and wife Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones who manage to convince us they are falling in love even as producer, screenwriter David O'Selznick was destroying their marriage off-screen. Even on a second viewing a good twenty years after the first I was still moved to tears in spots.

John T. Ryan THIS IS ANOTHER example of one of those pictures that stands by itself; that is, seemingly without any other quite like it. It is the beneficiary of having the best of everything there is in film-land. MGM endowed it with the finest of cast members (being a veritable All-Star ensemble crew), the multi-faceted story, multiple film units and the greatest of the most convincing sets. The filming included both in studio and a great variety of locations.WHEN IT CAME out, SINCE YOU WENT AWAY was playing to and intended for a war weary America; which was then in its third year of active participation in hostilities in Europe, North Africa,Asia, the Pacific and the Atlantic. In short, War was everywhere; being truly a World War.MAKING USE OF several loosely interconnected stories, the message is clearly one of both reluctant thanks, congratulations and a bid of encouragement in continuing in the same mode; until the War could be prosecuted to a successful conclusion. Without it being mentioned, all knew of the seriousness of the World situation at that time and there needn't have been any reminders saying so.ALTHOUGH ALL OF Hollywood had done its part in mobilizing whatever movie offerings they had, be they cartoons, short subjects, Westerns, the "B's", Serials or Features; this film has proved itself to be at the very zenith of the wartime fair. As a portrayal of American life back home during the years of strife, it has no peers.IT MAKES A GREAT companion piece to THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES; which provides the same sort of fine storytelling; but, in this case, its an homage to the early Post-War period and the problems of the returning Veteans.

inhonoredglory Like all my 10/10 movies, this one taught me something and moved me. It showed me the many facets of the home front during World War II. It touched me with sweetness, humor, tragedy, love, and hope. The film's theme echoed through every scene. I loved how the camera passed people in crowd scenes, it paused briefly to give ear to their individual lives as they spoke.And it was all so real. In this movie, there isn't that and-it-all-worked-out feel. People miss trains, romances cannot be fulfilled, triumphs are small and unglorified, loss is real, and expectations are not always fulfilled so grandly. The relationships are unique, not cliché, and very much like what you'd find in real life.Perhaps it is sappily idealistic, but I believe that ideals are what you reach up to achieve, and with movies like this, that journey is that much more inspired.