“Since You Went Away” is an epic drama movie telling the story of the American home front during World War II and the sacrifices made there, everything from missing loved ones serving in the military to their own contributions to the war effort. Director John Cromwell (“Abe Lincoln in Illinois” 1940) successfully guided the vast script and large cast into a very watchable film with a fast-moving (nearly) three-hour running time.
The top-rate cast includes Claudette Colbert at the center of the story as a Midwestern wife whose husband is away in the Army, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple as her daughters, Joseph Cotton and Monty Woolley as soldiers stationed at a nearly base, as well as Lionel Barrymore, Robert Walker, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorehead, Keenan Wynn, Guy Madison, Craig Stevens, Albert Basserman, Nazimova, Lloyd Corrigan, Jackie Moran, and Gordon Oliver. There were uncredited appearances by Dorothy Dandridge, Rhonda Fleming, Terry Moore, Ruth Roman.
The very watchable “Since You Went Away” was successful at the war box office for producer David O. Selznick (who also penned the screenplay), Selznick International Pictures, Vanguard Films, and United Artists. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one for Best Original Score (Max Steiner).
The farewell scene between Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker at the railway station is remembered as a classic tear-jerker moment in film. It was parodied in “Airplane!” in 1981. In real life, Walker and Jones were going through a bitter divorce, with Jones later marrying producer Selznick.
Since You Went Away (1944)
cinema
My Review
“Since You Went Away” is an epic drama movie telling the story of the American home front during World War II and the sacrifices made there, everything from missing loved ones serving in the military to their own contributions to the war effort. Director John Cromwell (“Abe Lincoln in Illinois” 1940) successfully guided the vast script and large cast into a very watchable film with a fast-moving (nearly) three-hour running time.
The top-rate cast includes Claudette Colbert at the center of the story as a Midwestern wife whose husband is away in the Army, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple as her daughters, Joseph Cotton and Monty Woolley as soldiers stationed at a nearly base, as well as Lionel Barrymore, Robert Walker, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorehead, Keenan Wynn, Guy Madison, Craig Stevens, Albert Basserman, Nazimova, Lloyd Corrigan, Jackie Moran, and Gordon Oliver. There were uncredited appearances by Dorothy Dandridge, Rhonda Fleming, Terry Moore, Ruth Roman.
The very watchable “Since You Went Away” was successful at the war box office for producer David O. Selznick (who also penned the screenplay), Selznick International Pictures, Vanguard Films, and United Artists. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one for Best Original Score (Max Steiner).
The farewell scene between Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker at the railway station is remembered as a classic tear-jerker moment in film. It was parodied in “Airplane!” in 1981. In real life, Walker and Jones were going through a bitter divorce, with Jones later marrying producer Selznick.