Viewing the film today is a lot different than when I viewed it years and years ago as a kid growing up in a residential town not quite as isolated looking as the railroad town shown in THE HUMAN COMEDY.
Don't get me wrong--I can still appreciate the charm of individual scenes, the boy waving to the trains, the soldiers looking for a rainy day date, the trainload of boys off to the war, and the very touching telegraph scenes with MICKEY ROONEY and FRANK MORGAN. Both were at their finest in this one. Then there's the added bonus of having some nice scenes between JAMES CRAIG and MARSHA HUNT--not to mention all the other fairly well-known cast members who all have their moments to shine in this film based on William Saroyan's novel.
But it strikes me now as a rather overly sentimental slice of Americana with everyone making little speeches about how they feel (FAY BAINTER, as the mother, in particular), even though it does paint a fairly accurate picture of how much simpler life in America was during the '40s and World War II.
VAN JOHNSON, DONNA REED, ROBERT MITCHUM (unbilled) and BARRY NELSON all score nicely and it's about as sweet and nostalgic as any film of this period about the homefront during war.
I loved the scene with the small boy ("Butch" Jenkins) in front of the store window where a mannequin comes to life for a big scare.
Summing up: A bit heavy-handed with the preaching, more a series of vignettes than a whole story, but touching nevertheless.
Don't get me wrong--I can still appreciate the charm of individual scenes, the boy waving to the trains, the soldiers looking for a rainy day date, the trainload of boys off to the war, and the very touching telegraph scenes with MICKEY ROONEY and FRANK MORGAN. Both were at their finest in this one. Then there's the added bonus of having some nice scenes between JAMES CRAIG and MARSHA HUNT--not to mention all the other fairly well-known cast members who all have their moments to shine in this film based on William Saroyan's novel.
But it strikes me now as a rather overly sentimental slice of Americana with everyone making little speeches about how they feel (FAY BAINTER, as the mother, in particular), even though it does paint a fairly accurate picture of how much simpler life in America was during the '40s and World War II.
VAN JOHNSON, DONNA REED, ROBERT MITCHUM (unbilled) and BARRY NELSON all score nicely and it's about as sweet and nostalgic as any film of this period about the homefront during war.
I loved the scene with the small boy ("Butch" Jenkins) in front of the store window where a mannequin comes to life for a big scare.
Summing up: A bit heavy-handed with the preaching, more a series of vignettes than a whole story, but touching nevertheless.