As a piece of inspiration and moral instrruction for the folks at home, this is far inferior to either Mrs. Miniver or The Fighting Sullivans. A very talented cast struggles gamely with a ham-handed script and overwrought direction. As Ann Hilton, Claudette Colbert is way too emotional as the upper middle class wife of an advertising executive who chucked his job to volunteer for the Army. She's portrayed as completely unstrung by his departure and as initially helpless inside her bubble of privilege. I can't help comparing the role as written unfavorably with the way I visualize Myrna Loy's Millie Stevenson having coped with the same situation while Al was away, before the beginning of The Best Years of Our Lives. Jennifer Jones's burgeoning and barely controlled sexuality as Jane, the older daughter. is similarly over the top, compared with Teresa Wright's cool, sensible Peggy Stevenson. Joseph Cotten's man about town Navy officer and family friend emits almost the full too clever by half serial killer vibe he had in Shadow of a Doubt, and his "Uncle Tony" relationship with Jane, who keeps throwing him none too subtle invitations, is as sexually cringe-worthy as his uncle-niece relationship with Wrignt in Shadow. Hattie McDaniel is stuck in another broadly played faithful maid role, right down to the name Fidelia, but then Hollywood never allowed her to do anything else. The script hits every patriotic beat required -- taking in a boarder, growing a victory garden, volunteering for war work, eschewing the black market -- with Agnes Moorehead as the snobbish exemplar of what not to think, say and do. The nice young men you can see will be killed duly are, to the grief of the women left behind and the service of the plot, and the same is true of the ones you know have to survive. It perfectly suited the taste of the time, but unlike The Fighting Sullivans, Mrs. Miniver, and the Best Years of Our Lives -- which are also true to the values of their day -- it has dated badly and is only of historical interest.
Review of Since You Went Away
