Since You Went Away (1944)
Two years earlier, Mrs. Miniver swept the Oscars and became one of the most famous “war at home” movies to come from the WWII era. It showed how an English family coped after the patriarch went to war and the mother had to step up and run things. In 1944, Since You Went Away showed how an American family coped after the patriarch went to war and the mother had to step up and run things. The Oscar sweep went to Going My Way. Here at Hot Toasty Rag, the Members of the Board were ecstatic to right that wrong. We gave Since You Went Away Best Picture, very deserving at the height of WWII.
When Claudette Colbert’s husband leaves to fight for his country, she’s left alone to manage her teenage daughters, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple. To help pay her bills, she rents out a room in her house to Monty Woolley and reluctantly dismisses her housekeeper, Hattie McDaniel. Hattie comes back and works for free, because she loves Claudette’s family and doesn’t want them to struggle without her. Monty is an old curmudgeon, but he’s soon swept up in the family’s charm and softens. He also has a strained relationship with his grandson, Robert Walker.
This is not just another domestic drama. This is a serious “war at home” movie that completely mirrored the mood of the American people in 1944. It shows every age and every mindset: young teenagers who can’t fight yet but who volunteer and try to do their part, old men who fought in the last war and are sad to see the younger generation dying, housewives who are forced to get out of their comfort zones, selfish people who buy on the black market because they don’t want to sacrifice, careless men who enlist because they don’t know what else to do, and those who learn to grow up before their time.
There are so many reasons to check out this classic if you’ve never seen it. The oft-spoofed goodbye scene at the train station when Robert Walker tosses Jennifer Jones his father’s watch. Claudette Colbert weeping as she hugs her husband’s pillow. Agnes Moorehead getting told off, and Claudette rallying the entire American people with her speech. Joseph Cotten in his uniform, flirting with both mother and daughter. The moving sermon by Lionel Barrymore when the family goes to church. It’s understandable that this movie was quickly foreshadowed by The Best Years of Our Lives two years later, but there’s no reason why the inferior Mrs. Miniver was more famous.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "The Projection Room" for posting!
More Joseph Cotten movies here!
More Hattie McDaniel movies here!
More Jennifer Jones movies here!
When Claudette Colbert’s husband leaves to fight for his country, she’s left alone to manage her teenage daughters, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple. To help pay her bills, she rents out a room in her house to Monty Woolley and reluctantly dismisses her housekeeper, Hattie McDaniel. Hattie comes back and works for free, because she loves Claudette’s family and doesn’t want them to struggle without her. Monty is an old curmudgeon, but he’s soon swept up in the family’s charm and softens. He also has a strained relationship with his grandson, Robert Walker.
This is not just another domestic drama. This is a serious “war at home” movie that completely mirrored the mood of the American people in 1944. It shows every age and every mindset: young teenagers who can’t fight yet but who volunteer and try to do their part, old men who fought in the last war and are sad to see the younger generation dying, housewives who are forced to get out of their comfort zones, selfish people who buy on the black market because they don’t want to sacrifice, careless men who enlist because they don’t know what else to do, and those who learn to grow up before their time.
There are so many reasons to check out this classic if you’ve never seen it. The oft-spoofed goodbye scene at the train station when Robert Walker tosses Jennifer Jones his father’s watch. Claudette Colbert weeping as she hugs her husband’s pillow. Agnes Moorehead getting told off, and Claudette rallying the entire American people with her speech. Joseph Cotten in his uniform, flirting with both mother and daughter. The moving sermon by Lionel Barrymore when the family goes to church. It’s understandable that this movie was quickly foreshadowed by The Best Years of Our Lives two years later, but there’s no reason why the inferior Mrs. Miniver was more famous.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "The Projection Room" for posting!
More Joseph Cotten movies here!
More Hattie McDaniel movies here!
More Jennifer Jones movies here!
Hot Toasty Rag Awards:
Best Picture of 1944
Hot Toasty Rag Nominations:
Best Director: John Cromwell
Best Actress: Claudette Colbert
Best Picture of 1944
Hot Toasty Rag Nominations:
Best Director: John Cromwell
Best Actress: Claudette Colbert