BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

evanston_dad I had much the same reaction to "Since You Went Away" that I had to "Mrs. Miniver" when I finally saw it. I had preconceived notions that both were going to be schmaltzy, maudlin melodramas capitalizing on World War II audiences' emotions for maximum sentimentality. Instead, I was impressed by how thoughtful both were, and found myself quite moved by them even all these years later."Since You Went Away" doesn't carry quite the same punch, because it's not about people literally surviving warfare on their homeland. But it's still a fascinating account of what it was like for the women who were left behind when their husbands, sons, and brothers went off to war. In other war movies, women aren't given much to do but sit and pine away, clutching the occasional letter to their heaving breasts. But in this one, we see that life went on for the women one way or another. They had to put food on the table, run errands, get things done. And a certain kind of woman, played in a lovely performance by Claudette Colbert in this one, didn't know how to do any of those things because they never had to. War time, and the financial straits that came with it, meant they had to do without their maids and cooks and nannies and start doing things for themselves, planting the seeds that would eventually lead to the modern feminist movement.I could have done with less of Jennifer Jones, who plays Colbert's eldest daughter and gets a story line about doomed love with a young soldier (Robert Walker). Jones isn't much of an actress, and while the rest of the film has a practical, roll-your-sleeves-up quality, this plot strand, while I'm sure it resonated with audiences at the time, tips the film into melodrama too frequently and makes it very long. I much more enjoyed the scenes with Monty Woolley as an irascible boarder, and especially those with Agnes Moorehead, who could have been cast in every movie ever made with no arguments from me. She plays a friend of Colbert's who has the luxury of being callously blithe about everything to do with the war since she doesn't have any personal stake in it. This was something I hadn't ever really thought about with WWII, and found parallels with things going on in our country right now, like for instance the Black Lives Matter movement, an issue that lots of people care strongly about and other people have the luxury of not caring about because it doesn't affect them. It just goes to show how wrong people are when they assume old movies have nothing to say to modern audiences."Since You Went Away" was one of the big competitors at the 1944 Oscars, but it walked away with only one actual award, for Max Steiner's score. It was nominated in eight other categories, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actress (Colbert), Best Supporting Actor (Woolley), Best Supporting Actress (Jones), Best Art Direction (B&W), Best Cinematography (B&W), Best Film Editing, and Best Special Effects, a bit of a head scratcher. Many of the folks nominated for the technical awards were nominated several years earlier in the same categories for "Gone with the Wind," no big surprise as this film was one of David Selznick's attempts to recapture the grandeur and success of that earlier picture.Grade: A

JelenaG890 Some films hold up very well, even with time. Examples are Citizen Kane, All about Eve, The Maltese Falcon, Metropolis, Sunset Boulevard, It happened one night, among others. Others, while well-regarded during their release, just don't. "Since You Went Away" is one film that has not aged well at all.For one thing, the doomed "teenage" lovers are way too old for their roles- they were 25 and 31 and both kind of look it. I might be biased, since I have never thought very much of Jennifer Jones as an actress to start with, but I cannot believe she was nominated for this film. During the entire film, all she did was laugh girlishly and bat her eyes- first at Joseph Cotten, and then at Robert Walker, ironically her estranged husband at that time. Jones was decent in "Song of Bernadette" and making this film right after was a huge step backwards for her in my opinion.Robert Walker is a better actor, in my opinion, than Jones, but this role is pretty much thankless and does not showcase any of his talents. In fact, he pretty much looks miserable throughout this film, but I can't say I blame him. If I had to do a movie and kiss my ex-husband, I'd be miserable too.I'm not exactly sure what the point of Joseph Cotten's character was. He just creepily hangs out at their house, clearly lusting after his best friend's wife, while also well-aware of the older daughter's crush on him. I wish they had just left him out of this film- he really added nothing to the story and just came off as a giant leech.Shirley Temple, all grown up here, also does not add much in her role. She also still has the same, whiny baby voice she did at the age of 6. What worked for her as a child definitely did not work for her as she got older.Colbert is kind of the same as she was in any role- dignified, and elegant. But the role of mother does not seem to be one that really suited her.Some of the other performances hold up better. Woolley fares probably the best, and Agnes Moorehead is also great in her supporting role. Unfortunately, Alla Nazimova, one of the greatest silent film actresses and accomplished stage actress, is wasted in a nothing role where she delivers a "rah-rah, yay for the red, white, and blue!" speech.David Selznick certainly knew how to cater to an audience, judging by the massive success that this film was at the time of its release. However, it is just not a film that has held up with time. Instead of feeling patriotic or uplifted when I saw this film, I felt like I had to visit a dentist because of all this film's saccharine message. It is also far too long, but it fits with the "epic" nature of many Selznick films.

John T. Ryan THIS IS ANOTHER example of one of those pictures that stands by itself; that is, seemingly without any other quite like it. It is the beneficiary of having the best of everything there is in film-land. MGM endowed it with the finest of cast members (being a veritable All-Star ensemble crew), the multi-faceted story, multiple film units and the greatest of the most convincing sets. The filming included both in studio and a great variety of locations.WHEN IT CAME out, SINCE YOU WENT AWAY was playing to and intended for a war weary America; which was then in its third year of active participation in hostilities in Europe, North Africa,Asia, the Pacific and the Atlantic. In short, War was everywhere; being truly a World War.MAKING USE OF several loosely interconnected stories, the message is clearly one of both reluctant thanks, congratulations and a bid of encouragement in continuing in the same mode; until the War could be prosecuted to a successful conclusion. Without it being mentioned, all knew of the seriousness of the World situation at that time and there needn't have been any reminders saying so.ALTHOUGH ALL OF Hollywood had done its part in mobilizing whatever movie offerings they had, be they cartoons, short subjects, Westerns, the "B's", Serials or Features; this film has proved itself to be at the very zenith of the wartime fair. As a portrayal of American life back home during the years of strife, it has no peers.IT MAKES A GREAT companion piece to THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES; which provides the same sort of fine storytelling; but, in this case, its an homage to the early Post-War period and the problems of the returning Veteans.

Bob Pr. THREE hours long, it's crammed with 1940s stars in main or cameo roles: Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple, Joseph Cotten, Monty Wooley, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Walker, Hattie McDaniels, Agnes Moorehead, Keenan Wynn, etc. Set in the middle of WW-II, a caring husband leaves his wife (Colbert) and daughters (Jones, Temple) to enlist and serve in the Army. The plot deals with his family's coping with his absence, being patriotic & supportive of the war effort, hoping to help him & all others return home safely.This was produced in the middle of WW-II (but, of course, they'd have no idea at that time it was then the halfway point): when food & gas rationing was the norm, tin cans*, kitchen grease*, and scrap metal* were being harvested from all civilians to help the war effort, and women were suddenly, increasingly, being recruited and trained to work in "defense plants:" shipyards, aircraft building, machine tool making, or truck driving, etc., and all kinds of jobs formerly served only by men.It's mainly, patently, a work of wartime patriotic propaganda, exhorting viewers to keep the faith with American ideals, enlisting God, to stay faithful to the brave men defending our country, and "keep the home fires burning" so that all will treasure a return to the land, family, and values they love. It's idealistic--displaying a family with "all the right" motives and responses. It seems designed to provide patterns for ideal behaviors by civilians while also assuring those in the military that their family members, absent from them, were behaving conscientiously at home.This film is definitely a period piece, depicting fairly accurately the idealized family values & roles (including race relations), etc, of THAT era. And, despite the severe limitations of the screenplay & plot, IMO these actors do a great job: Colbert provides the solid foundation on which all is built; Jennifer Jones (then 24) is a convincing teenager (17-->20) whose first love is KIA (Killed in Action); Shirley Temple (then 15-16) is a maturing mid-teen. Hattie McDaniels, Hollywood's first notable black actress, plays a stereotyped loyal family maid who always mangles the English language in "Amos & Andy" fashion.Ratings: for its worth as an interesting narrative, possibly 5 or 6 of 10. BUT, for its worth as a record of our "ideal" template of American family's values and functioning DURING THAT WARTIME ERA, I'll give it a 9 of 10. Averaging these two --> 7 of 10.(My companion couldn't stand the over-the-top feel of the patriotic propaganda and "patness" of the story line; she walked out at the 150 minute mark. Many will feel the same way; I did, too, but wanted to see if the ending I forecast would be fulfilled. It was. Not hard to do: it was produced to make both civilians & military peeps feel comforted & supported.)[* For those unfamiliar with the extensive WW-II civilian recycling, see http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/1652512.htm or google "WW-II civilian kitchen grease, cans, paper" for many other descriptions.](And FWIW, I'm a veteran of WW-II & the Korean War.)