Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

MartinHafer I love the idea behind "Vacation from Marriage". After all, with spouses separated for years during WWII and with so much social upheaval, it's not surprising that marriages were seriously disrupted, strained and often ruined. Yet, oddly, very, very few films talk about it. Off the top of my head, the only other one which addressed this was "The Best Years of Our Lives".The film begins with a married couple (Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr) living very, very ordered and predictable lives together. But because of the war, he is drafted in and she soon volunteers for the service. Due to their experiences, they both slowly evolve in unexpected directions. And, the more they change, the more they both start to wonder if the marriage can stand these changes. After all, neither wants to go back to their old, dull lives. Yet, because they haven't seen each other in three years, neither is sure how to address this when they meet. Overall, it's a very well acted film--with lovely writing and adept direction. Well worth seeing.By the way, at one point in the movie Robert Donat's character is talking with Ann Todd and she talks about explorers. She then says that Captain John Smith married Pocahontas. As a retired history teacher, I cringed, as she married John Rolfe. In fact, according to some accounts, she couldn't stand Smith!

ackstasis In all good love stories, two people meet for the first time, and there's something there. Exactly what that "something" is, nobody can say. A spark, a special chemistry… most likely (and perhaps least romantically) it is our subconscious recollection of the author's dramatic obligation – this man and this woman must fall in love. 'Perfect Strangers (1945)' {released in the US as "Vacation from Marriage"} is unusual in that its star-crossed lovers have not only met before, but have been married for years. Robert (Robert Donat) and Catherine (Deborah Kerr) are a meek British couple who are separated for three years by WWII, each partner taking a role in active combat. When the pair finally reunite, both have changed so tremendously that they find themselves unwilling to return to their mundane former lives.Robert is a shy and submissive accountant. Just as his job requires perfect balance and order, so too does his life depend on the routine exactness of habit and ritual. In the early part of the film, his behaviour is directed by a stream-of-consciousness voice-over, which maps out conversations in advance, with little avail. Catherine, beset by a perpetual sniffle, is a tired and delicate young thing, the sort of wife that Robert aptly describes as "dependable." At the onset of the War, both join the Navy, and become completely different people as a result. This positive depiction of War – as a great big adventure, more than anything else – was typical during the early 1940s, and 'Perfect Strangers' doesn't, in this regard, add much to Carol Reed's 'The Way Ahead (1944).' Instead, that both Robert and Catherine become changed people is accepted as a given.Robert Donat's casting in the film was quite deliberate. At the film's beginning, he sports a moustache that obviously references his shy, reliable teacher in 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939).' During the War, he loses the moustache, and the transformation in his screen persona is dramatic: he's suddenly the handsome war hero of so many Hollywood action pictures. Deborah Kerr, too, attains a youthful sexual vitality that sees her transformed from a meek, "dependable" housewife to a veritable "pin-up girl." Even though their transformations have run parallel to each other, there is an undeniable rift present; one skillful match-cut sees Robert and Catherine dancing, but in the arms of other partners. There's a moment in the film, when the troubled couple glimpse each other in the light for the first time in three years, and… there's a spark. Just like they've never met.

perrylyn-1 There are certain stories that are so original and intrinsically entertaining that they get reinvented every 20 or 30 years. Case in point, "The shop around the corner", which became "In the good old summertime" and finally "You've got mail". That's the kind of originality that runs through this story. Premise: A young married couple about to be parted for 3 years, both to do duty in her Majesty's Royal Navy in WWII. He's timid and boring. She's mousy and sickly. He becomes bold and manly. She blossoms into an attractive and assertive woman. Both now dread having to meet each other again after several years separation, remembering only how each partner use to be like. What happens when they meet again is pure fun. Why are there no remakes of this terrific story? We've had plenty of new wars to use as a background. People still change, sometimes for the better, during long separations. I have a VHS copy of this story taped from TV years ago. I only wish they would sell this movie again, while we wait for the updated script someone should write.

silenceisgolden What a screenplay this movie has! It's wonderful! It's a simple story but it's executed wonderfully! You truly feel for the main characters. Deborah Kerr has never been a favorite of mine but she is wonderful in this film. Robert Donat, as usual, is brilliant! I highly recommend this to fans of classic romances. It is sweet, humorous in parts, and REAL! I wish Donat had done more films when he was around, but I shouldn't complain. I'm just glad he was smart enough to always take good roles in quality films. Kerr and Donat sparkle in this and Glynis Johns is so perky! Like a little cheerleader! This is great fun! I'll stop rambling now, if this is ever shown on TCM, you must watch it!