Since You Went Away
1944 Directed by John Cromwell
Synopsis
While husband Tim is away during World War II, Anne Hilton copes with problems on the homefront. Taking in a lodger, Colonel Smollett, to help make ends meet and dealing with shortages and rationing are minor inconveniences compared to the love affair daughter Jane and the Colonel's grandson conduct.
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**Part of the Best Picture Project**
Since You Went Away comes off as Mrs. Miniver's less subtle but just as competent sister. It is a film that does not do much other than portray the war life of a woman and her two daughters, along with the company they keep.
It's written by producer David O. Selznick, and it seems he intended this to be his modern Gone with the Wind, as it is a very long film, running almost 3 hours. But whereas Gone with the Wind was appropriately long (and paced in a way that made it feel otherwise), Since You Went Away doesn't do much with its running time, and as such, the film feels extraordinarily bloated.…
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If you want to see a movie about the homefront during WW2 but have already seen both Mrs. Miniver and The Best Years of Our Lives, I guess you might as well check this out. The difference between this and the aforementioned films is sentimentality, which is clearly what David O. Selznick felt the primarily female wartime audiences wanted. Also, given that Selznick was never afraid of a long running time, he went ahead and made this melodrama upwards of three hours long. A lot of this means that it isn’t really to my tastes, but for what it is this isn’t really all that bad. It could have been worse anyway and there are a couple of scenes here that are pretty strong.
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David Selznick's gargantuanism paradoxically gives way to a movie that feels like a seductive yet sorrowful whisper, as a crushing feeling of loss and lust hovers over the lives of Claudette Colbert and her two daughters while they pine for their men and boys fighting overseas. A fine and mysterious companion film to both 'Shadow of a Doubt' and 'Best Years of Our Lives.'
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There are a significant amount tracking shots in this film that do more for the narrative than entire sequences in other films.
Runs a bit long and a bit corny but a solid movie in every respect.
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**Part of the Best Picture Project**
Since You Went Away comes off as Mrs. Miniver's less subtle but just as competent sister. It is a film that does not do much other than portray the war life of a woman and her two daughters, along with the company they keep.
It's written by producer David O. Selznick, and it seems he intended this to be his modern Gone with the Wind, as it is a very long film, running almost 3 hours. But whereas Gone with the Wind was appropriately long (and paced in a way that made it feel otherwise), Since You Went Away doesn't do much with its running time, and as such, the film feels extraordinarily bloated.…