Till the End of Time (1946)

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Another tale of returning veterans but this is no "The Best Years of Our Lives" but a bargain-basement vehicle for up and coming star Guy Madison who may have been the best looking kid on the block but who was never known for his acting talents and sadly he hogs the picture. On the plus side it's neither particularly melodramatic nor sentimental, (it isn't much of anything really though it is a tad on the preachy side). It also has a decent supporting cast that includes a young Robert Mitchum, (very good as the soldier with a plate in his head), Bill Williams as the soldier who has lost his legs and Tom Tully and Ruth Nelson as Madison's parents. His girl is Dorothy McGuire, not bad but underused. The source material was a novel by Niven Busch and the treatment is sudsy at best.

After the Vietnam War when returning vets started protesting and complaining, some WWII veterans were taken aback and called them whiners and cowards.One need only see this film to get it. Coming home from combat is not an easy thing, and yes, a number of good soldiers, after the Big War, had a very hard time adjusting to civilian life. This film is a very realistic portrayal of that unfortunate situation and pulls few punches. The tone is perfect and the performances are excellent. The "neat little bow" ending is abrupt and unconvincing and keeps this from being pure film-noir, but "til the end" it is one powerful presentation of the post-war predicament. A nod also must be given to the inclusion of a set-up to announce to ALL of America that it took a ALL kinds of Heroes to win the war. Catholics, Jews, Negroes and others...not just WASPS.That, after all, is a situation we still have to deal with and its victims are ever present.

It is unconceivable that TILL THE END OF TIME is not celebrated enough for the excellent, superb film that it is. I am still under its spell, having watched it last evening on a DVD I bought in Italy this winter. It is incredible that Europeans are better able to appreciate this fine film than most Americans, as TILL THE END OF TIME has not yet been made available in DVD format in the United States and was released in VHS over twenty years ago! This is a story about young soldiers that come back home from the war, physically or mentally shattered by their recent experiences and often unable to adjust easily to civilian life. The film portrays their feelings with total honesty and we are transported to 1945 Los Angeles in a way that no other films seem able to do. Edward Dmytryk must be praised for his sensitive direction of the material. Guy Madison is very fine indeed in his role, giving a performance worthy of a young Montgomery Clift. Robert Mitchum, still quite young, made me think of Sean Penn in his rough but ultimately warm, sincere way of connecting with people. Finally, all accolades must go to Dorothy McGuire for her handling of a most difficult part. She is totally convincing as the young, sad widow who is trying to make a new start in life, not knowing exactly how. How brilliant she is here! How wonderful she always was throughout her career! I cannot understand how she never got an Academy Award for her work when several lesser actresses did.

The very same year as William Wyler ,Dmytryk gives his own version of 'the best years of our lives': there are similarities between the two works:both feature a disabled man ,although in Wyler's film ,Omer was a true handicapped man;both feature a fighting (remember Dana Andrews who is told he should have made war against the Reds).That said "till the end of time" is not in the same league:Guy Madison is handsome but a limited actor and he gets much more time on screen than the superior Robert Mitchum.There are good scenes now and then : -The soldier,living in anguish,suddenly starting trembling violently and the way Dorothy McGuire comforts him by telling him about her first ball.-The same woman ,revealing her husband was killed in action.-The hero meeting his parents in the night and realizing he does not understand them anymore and the opposite is true.In the field of "after- the- war- time",however,Dmytryk was more inspired in his film noir "cross-fire".