Since You Went Away (1944)

Too Dated for Today

Okay, I love old B&W movies but this can't hold a candle to "Mrs. Miniver" (now there was a woman who knew how to cope) and "The Best Years of Our Lives." I found Colbert's character so annoying..her big hardship was that she couldn't afford her maid and she didn't know how to manage money, because obviously Hubby did all that before he was shipped out and I guess she just sat around in her designer clothes and looked pretty. Also, I know that times were different when this was made but the portrayal of the black maid and the making fun of "Japs" really made me very uncomfortable. Sorry, I'll watch the other two movies any time, but not this one...once was plenty. July 31, 2008

Another great classic

I have loved this movie since I was a kid watching the Million Dollar Movie.
If you like old movies & appreciate great film making try this one. June 16, 2008

Wonderful Memory film

I have watched this movie many many times. I can so relate to this wonderful movie. I am so happy I have it in my possession, I can watch it as many times I like. Thank you so much for having it available. June 9, 2008

Since You Went Away

A heart warming view of the "... love ones back home." The right mix of drama, comedy, and the usually hanky moments. This movie has the usual war story line of separated families during hard times. Very good movie. June 4, 2008

Epic-Length Home-Front WWII Soap Opera Has Colbert and Some Startling Camerawork

Two things still stand out in this elongated, patriotic 1944 soap opera produced in immaculate style by David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind, Rebecca) - the natural, self-effacing warmth of Claudette Colbert's portrayal of a WWII wife and mother holding down her home as her husband goes off to war, and the striking black-and-white cinematography by Lee Garmes and Stanley Cortez, who use a lot of deep focus and long shadows to accentuate the more dramatic moments. Look at the dance sequence in the airplane hangar or the departing train scene for clear evidence of their artistry. Otherwise, the film directed by John Cromwell is emblematic of its time as a morale booster to war-weary audiences looking for ways to cope with the eternal wait for the serving men. Based on a novel by Margaret Buell Wilder written in the form of a series of letters, Selznick took it upon himself to flesh out the story into a full-fledged screenplay with the intent of making an American version of the 1942 MGM classic, Mrs. Miniver complete with an overly effusive musical score by Max Steiner. While some jingoism is expected from a film of this era, it remains a poignant piece of Americana during a more innocent time - not as emotionally resonant as William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives but cut from the same dramatic cloth.

The simple story focuses on the Hilton family. Head of the household Tim (who is only seen in the movie in photos) has just left, and his wife Anne is trying to cope with the initial loneliness. Oldest daughter Jane is a boy-crazy high school senior, and fifteen-year-old Brig is the perky rabble-rouser-wannabe. Devoted to Tim with unconditional devotion, the three have an ideal relationship. Because they have to now survive only on his allotment checks, Anne has to let family maid Fidelia go, even though she comes back to work for them for free. Such situations obviously just happen in the movies. They take in a boarder, the easily irritable Colonel Smollett, and things get complicated when family friend Lt. Tony Willett shows up. Jane develops a crush on Tony, but her affections quickly transfer to Smollett's grandson Billy, a puppyish enlistee who is summarily ignored by his grandfather for getting ejected from West Point. The film starts to move into a quagmire of tear-jerking scenes at this point, and the last part introduces new situations and characters much too quickly - including a potentially interesting episode on Anne's job in a steel mill - before the film finally ends.

Colbert is wonderful as the patient Anne from start to finish. As Jane, Jennifer Jones tries too hard to be youthful at the beginning (she was 25) but settles down when her character falls in love with Billy and matures due to an unexpected tragedy. In a role virtually identical to the one he played in Vincente Minnelli's The Clock opposite Judy Garland, Robert Walker overdoes Billy's callowness to an off-putting degree. Regardless, I have to admit his scenes with Jones are touching, especially the famous goodbye scene at the train platform (satirized hilariously in Airplane!). Appearing about four years after the last of her child roles, Shirley Temple transitions nicely into adolescence as the spirited Brig. As the dashing Tony, Joseph Cotten is not particularly challenged here since he seems to be replaying Uncle Charlie from Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt with none of the darkness. The same can be said about Monty Woolley as Smollett, Hattie McDaniel as the comically inappropriate Fidelia (whose musical accompaniment sounds patronizingly like a cotton plantation spiritual), and even Agnes Moorehead playing Anne's narrow-minded society friend. Silent screen actress Nazimova shows up near the end as Anne's sanctimonious Russian émigré co-worker. The 2004 DVD unfortunately offers no extras. May 27, 2008

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