Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

cherimerritt Dougdoepke wrote exactly the review I would have written, only better (hence my review title "Ditto"). Please read it for my reactions. I rated the film 10 out of 10, though, due to my own personal interest in gender difference issues. This film highlighted and illustrated some of them exquisitely.Once in a conversation with a female engineer over lunch, I was sharing about my efforts to open cereal boxes, etc., before my husband got to them because he would open the wrong end just tear into the box. She replied, "Oh, it's a 'dick' thing. Even the male engineers lack the patience to read the instructions through before starting to assemble stuff we receive. They always end up with pieces left over that were essential." There's a scene that perfectly plays this out. (I always do the assembling at our house.)Peggy's perfect long-range view of their future together and her need for a shared vision and shared enthusiasm for that vision is perfectly female. Jason's internal pressure to be a better provider right now perfectly illustrates how money pressures too often distract men from the much more substantive essential of their wives' need to experience a well-discussed shared vision they can pursue together and adhere themselves to, no matter what difficulties arise.And the young wives' (Peggy in particular) more sound ways of long-range-view reasoning about how to live and why, contrasted against, well, you watch the film and tell me what YOU think. Whether you are male or female, please don't miss these profound (I thought) aspects of this hidden gem of a film. For me, it was definitely a 10. I even located (inadvertently) Jeanne Crain's granddaughter online and emailed to her my reactions and appreciation.

edwagreen Jeanne Crain and Edmund Gwenn give heartwarming performances in this 1948 film. Trouble is that Crain's movie husband, William Holden, of all people, is terribly miscast here. He is far too mature for the part, and at times, you would think he is doing a take-off on Walter Denton,(Richard Crenna) of "Our Miss Brooks Fame." It is only when the film takes a serious tone that Holden's acting improves. As in the case with Dana Andrews, comedies or musicals were not the strength of Holden.The writing is quite good here. A retired philosophy professor contemplates suicide until he meets up with a struggling young couple, Crain and Holden, the latter a G.I. going to college on the G.I. bill.The movie does do well in highlighting the problems of a housing shortage and the young married couples, where the husband is in college. I especially liked the part where Gwenn tries to educate the women philosophically speaking. Was this, however, a put-down on women's educational experience?Totally unrealistic was when those college professors try to get Holden through the make-up exams.

ccthemovieman-1 I've almost always enjoyed the performances of actor Edmund Gwenn. Generally-speaking he was a fun guy to watch and was excellent in comedies. He had a unique voice, too. This was the most unusual role I ever saw him play, and I can't say I appreciated it, although he was interesting, as always.It was kind of eerie to see him play a man who was contemplating suicide and then attempting to rationalize his act. From a secular viewpoint, some of it made sense. He was through with his job and felt he had done everything he wanted to do in life, so why not end it all before sickness and disease set in? Sounds good on the surface, but is a very selfish outlook, of course. I won't get into the arguments against that here but it would make for interesting discussions.What turned me off in this film wasn't Gwenn but Jeanne Crain's character "Peggy." She talked non-stop. Puh-leeze....give my ears a break! Maybe that non-stop chatter was supposed to be funny but I found it only one thing: annoying. That yak-yak-yak act wore thin quickly and I would think it would drive anyone crazy. I know it drove me to finally take the tape out of the VCR and tape some other film over it.

moonspinner55 Jeanne Crain is a breathlessly talkative expectant mother who lives with her husband, a former soldier, in a trailer; she chances to meet retired professor Edmund Gwenn, who feels his mundane, monotone existence means retreating from this world, but he goes along with her plan to let the couple temporarily move into his attic. The perfect example of what they used to call 'whimsical comedy'; despite a clumsy start, it still seems heartfelt today, perhaps even meaningful. Gwenn conveys the most complex emotions simply by wordless expression, and Crain's exuberance grows on you (she's better though in her quieter moments). With these two front and center, William Holden ends up playing third wheel, but his solid, masculinely amiable presence is a nice counterpoint to kooky Crain and he also has some fine scenes alone with Gwenn. The gentlemen in Gwenn's musical troupe are all wonderful, and the writing and direction, while primed for audience approval, genuinely work wonders with what might've been a stale set-up. This tear-jerker is a true gem. ***1/2 from ****