Since You Went Away (1944)

one of my absolute favorites!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I often wondered where Margaret Buell Wilder got the title for her book. There is a song from 1922 titled, "My Buddy" that matches the melancholy mood of the movie and may provide a clue. Versions were covered in the late 30s and the 40s, to it was probably a popular tune during the War. The second verse goes:"Nights are long _since you went away_, I think about you all through the day, My buddy, my buddy, Nobody quite so true."I remember my mother, born in 1923 so she was too young to hear the original release, talk about this song and singing it once or twice in the 60s, so I believe it was popular in her young adulthood during the War. As other posts tell, "Since You Went Away" is about wartime on the Home Front, coping with rationing and shortages, making ends meet, and still trying to watch your children grow and form relationships. It's well worth watching. Again, knowing that Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker were breaking up in real life makes their performances all the more powerful. The second movie of my favorite wartime trio (probably my most favorite of the three) is "The Best Years Of Our Lives." If you haven't seen this one you need to. It involves how returning servicemen, one with no hands, try to integrate back into civilian life. An Infantry Sergeant (Al) who was a bank vice president, an Air Corps Captain and Bombardier (Fred) who was a soda jerk in a department store, and a Sailor (Homer) who left his sweetheart at home and lost his hands in combat, all try to fit back into their former lives with varying degrees of success. Look for Fredric March's drunken dinner speech about why they "couldn't take the hill because they didn't have the collateral." Hoagie Carmichael dispenses music and wisdom as Homer's uncle, the piano player in the local bar.The third in this home front trilogy is a sometimes dark movie called "Bright Victory." A sergeant from the Deep South (Florida) is blinded by a bullet and must learn to cope with never being able to see again. He is in a special training hospital that really existed in Valley Forge, PA, where all the locals knew that blind servicemen were there for rehabilitation. He makes a fast friend of another blind soldier, Joe, not knowing that Joe is a Black American. He has to learn to accept that his fiancée in Florida can't deal with his blindness and that his parents are also uncomfortable with it, he has to come to terms with his relationship with Joe, and he has to decide if he is brave enough to accept a new love to share his new life.Three powerful movies about life on the Home Front. See them!

I watched this movie on TCM but I had to buy it because I have come to enjoy the older films more than the contemporary ones. I pulled it out this afternoon and watched it. I love all the actors in this film and the theme of hearth and home. That was the reason the men and women fought that war. It was sentimental and old fashioned but not in a schmaltzy way. Everyone pulled together because they were Americans and did their part for the war effort. It was very interesting to see mother and daughters playing gin rummy for things to do at night and doing hairstyles that were in Vogue. For entertainment, they all played charades at a party instead of watching TV and looking down at cell phones. How refreshing.

Since You Went Away, written and produced by David Selznik, and starring Claudette Colbert in an Oscar-nominated role, Jennifer Jones in a brilliant performance, and a solid cast of supporting actors that give the film great authenticity. This film was shot during WW 2 itself, and as such, has a greater feel of reality that most WW2 films made after the end of the war.Although a bit overly-sentimental in a few scenes, and a bit too long, the film still manages to hit our emotional cores with an array of issues that were prevalent during WW2. The telegram scenes, the phone calls and the work with disabled veterans all cannot fail to move the viewer. Selznik used almost his complete core of actors from Gone With the Wind to make this film, and for the most part, they clicked together again very well. The cinematography is first-rate and the dance scenes at the GI canteen are extremely impressive. The film highlights the struggles of American women and children who had to cope with long absences of their loved ones during the war. The music by Max Steiner won the Oscar for best music that year and it was well-deserved. Better bring at least two hankies for the ladies.

"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.