User Reviews

..If only to see beautiful and appealing Guy Madison in one of his earlier roles before lost to western films and TV ("Wild Bill Hickok") in the 1950s. Madison is the focal point here, portraying a returning serviceman from World War II and his subsequent adjustment to civilian life with sincerity and easy-going charm. Brad Pitt has a bit of his extremely handsome blonde, athletic looks, but not ingratiating acting prowess. (Madison is on the cover of "Hearthrob", a book about male cinema stars). Top-billed Dorothy McGuire is really support, somewhat of a matronly mis-matched love interest for the youthful Madison. A lovely score and good direction offset some dated aspects in the script. But Madison carries the day!

The year after World War II ended brought the first dramas to look at the plight of returning veterans trying to readjust to civilian norms. The Best Years of Our Lives was the big hit that year, but there were others, too. The title song in Till The End of Time, which was adapted from a Chopin polonaise, snakes through the movie wearing many skins, from saraband to Swing, constituting one of the more effective leitmotifs of 40s-movie scores. The story centers on Guy Madison, returning from the Pacific to his Los Angeles family. His parents expect the boy who left, not the man (physically, at least) who came back; they recoil when he wants to share his experiences in battle. So he starts to rebel against their sheltered and complacent life but has little idea of what to do with his own.

His love life is riven as well. One the one side there's the brash bobby-soxer next door, symbolizing what he used to be; on the other is weary war-widow Dorothy McGuire (among her most affecting roles), another survivor of the horrors of combat.

It's tempting to assume that Madison landed this meaty role (he's constantly on screen) solely because of his looks -- extraordinary, even by Hollywood standards. But he delivers a natural, if a bit bashful, performance. Only when buddy Robert Mitchum resurfaces halfway through the movie does he suffer by comparison. As a black sheep with a steel plate in his skull, Mitchum strikes the sparks that would ignite his long stardom; Madison, while pleasant and competent, comes up with nothing new and starts to grow monotonous (his career took him to TV westerns and European cheapies).

Director Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet; Back to Bataan) tones down for this leisurely character study, which remains absorbing and at times close to moving. He missteps once, very near the end, when a blast at bigotry comes flying out of left field, and he probably had to settle for the upbeat ending the studio wanted. But it was left to film noir, which dealt with similar issues obliquely (Blue Dahlia, Act of Violence, Dmytryk's own Crossfire) that probed them more profoundly.

Though Till The End Of Time boasted a hit song which filled the radio airwaves for months after the film was released, seen today it looks a whole lot like a dress rehearsal for The Best Years Of Our Lives. Not that it is a bad film, but Sam Goldwyn did so much better with a very similar plot involving three returning war veterans.

In this case we're talking Marines, veterans of the Pacific Theater who have just come home and are trying to readjust to civilian life. At least Guy Madison is all in one piece. He meets up with attractive war widow Dorothy McGuire who's having a much harder time. Her late husband was a flier, the glamor job of the service and just about anyone else doesn't measure up. But Madison has one advantage, he's alive and McGuire is not getting any younger.

Till The End Of Time was a followup film for Robert Mitchum who had just had his breakthrough role in The Story Of GI Joe. He plays Madison's best friend, the cowboy of Kwajalein, who talks about getting enough money together for a chicken ranch in New Mexico, but just can't quite get around to ending the partying from being discharged. Mitchum got the most notice from this film and this cemented his number one status at RKO for years.

Like The Best Years Of Our Lives this film dealt with three veterans and the third is Bill Williams, later television's Kit Carson, who is a double amputee. Not much call for prize fighters which he was before the war with no legs. Selena Royle is particularly touching in her role as Williams's mother.

The acclaim this film got was drowned out by the Goldwyn masterpiece which ironically enough was also released by RKO. But besides Mitchum's performance, the title theme from this picture was a big record hit in 1946. Adapted from Chopin's Polonaise by Ted Mossman and Buddy Kaye, Till The End Of Time gave Perry Como one of his earliest gold records just as he was breaking out as a singer. Doris Day also had a big seller with the Les Brown band.

A lot of the plot elements from The Best Years Of Our Lives are found in this film. Served up nicely, but not quite the same flavor, still tasty though.

After seeing the book Heartthrobs in the bookstore I was dying to see the beautiful man on the cover actually moving and speaking. Guy Madison is absolutely the most beautiful person that I have ever seen, male or female. Looking at him is truly like staring at a piece of art. It's no wonder some casting director thought to himself "the world needs to see this man 30 feet high" - the camera cannot seem to catch this guy at a bad angle. Guy is not the best actor you'll come across, but he is charming and earnest and hey his co-stars are Robert Mitchum and Dorothy McGuire so check it out! Dorothy's a fine actress, but a little matronly in this one - she's seems more like Guy's mother than a suitable love interest. If only they'd given her better ensembles - there's one scene with her in slip and much to my surprise she had a lovely little figure hiding under those awful jackets.

Dorothy McGuire's performance (as Pat Ruscomb, war widow) is exceptionally good in this film. She is so convincing that viewers need focus on the effects of World War II on the war widows as much as the effects on returning servicemen. Despite her plight, she is the character that holds the film together when all else is chaos. One can only wonder how many women were left in like situations after the war. Where "The Best Years of Our Lives" adequately portrays the problems of readjustments of soldiers to civilian life, this film gives us a look at the sinister effect on those who remained on the home front. The scars on women, families, and homes do extend "till the end of time."

Some jerk movie reviewer says it was to much of a tear jerker. What does he or she know. I , being a Vietnam combat vet, remember seeing the movie some years ago on TV and thinking how much I related to the story line. I can't remember much about the movie except for the fact that the filmmaker was right on when it came to trying to readjust. It ain't easy. Lots of resentment and hostility. The story may have tugged at the heart but film making has got to deal with the emotional side of ones story as well as the artful aspects of making a film. The reviewer obviously has spent no time in combat so as a result the main theme of the story escapes him or her. FIGURES

No, it does not have the acclaim of "The Best Years of Our Lives". What it does have are marvelously understated performances by Guy Madison and Dorothy Maguire, and a luminous supporting role for a young Robert Mitchum. This movie recreates the postwar world in a very hypnotic and appealing way;- a place where life was ceremonious, and gallantry and loyalty were the norm. In the deathless words inscribed on the Iwo Jima monument, "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue".

We shall not see their like again. Open a fine bottle of wine, lean back on your sofa, and drift back...

Released a few months before the better-known The Best Years of Our Lives, Till the End of Time also deals with the plight of servicemen returning to their home towns after World War Two. But while Best Years - for all its craftsmanship and excellent performances - strikes me as conventional and highly reliant on stereotyped characters, Till the End of Time offers a complex character study and an almost subversive picture of veterans facing the unrealistic expectations of post-war America. All the main characters in Till the End of Time have been psychologically traumatized by the war; they are all willing to help their friends but seem incapable of helping themselves. In this respect, the film is forward-looking to the character studies, such as Coming Home, made in Hollywood after the Vietnam War.

In his first major screen role and one that would be very demanding for even the most seasoned actor, Guy Madison doesn't consistently rise to the dramatic challenges, but he nicely suggests the innocent quality of a veteran who finds himself unprepared to meet the everyday challenges of civilian life. Madison does register effectively in several of his scenes - notably his homecoming, his initial attraction to Dorothy McGuire at the local bar (one of the fastest "pickups" ever seen in a Production Code Era film), the reunion and subsequent flare-up with his parents, and his testiness with his foreman at his new job. And with his refulgent good looks, Madison's screen presence is probably the most overwhelming display of masculine beauty ever seen on the screen.

Many viewers seem to have a difficult time reconciling the edgy, unappealing aspects of McGuire's character (and her admittedly dowdy appearance) to the actress's intelligent work here, which is totally consistent with the qualities of her character. I appreciate the fact that McGuire avoids leading lady predictability and creates a flesh-and-blood character.

Till the End of Time is a powerful film with believable characters and themes that continue to be highly relevant for today's audiences.

Movingly enacted story of a G.I. (Madison, giving us all he's got) and his buddies in the tough times of adjusting to civilian life after WWII. McGuire has lost her husband in the war, and they find each other. Porter appears as a fiesty next-door neighbor with a crush on the freshly returned G.I. Nice fight scene at the finish, and Mitchum is, as usual, at his best under the direction of Dmytryck.

This was a pretty good drama about men returning from World War II and trying to readjust to civilian life. In my one viewing of this film, I didn't quite know what to make of lead actor Guy Madison, whether he was a good actor or not. He wasn't bad, but sounded wooden in several scenes. Dorothy McGuire didn't look up to snuff for the leading lady role, but her acting and her voice is always top-notch, at least with me.

The story had some humor, thanks to Jean Porter's character "Helen Ingersoll," an 18-year-old bobby-sox neighbor. She was a lot of fun to watch and listen to, with her mid ''40s teen expressions of the day.

For pure drama, perhaps the most memorable scene was the veteran suffering from the shakes. It was mainly a human interest film about people who all had problems relating to their war experiences and were not handling things in a mature way. In that regard, the story got a little soapy, especially with the addition of the romance angle between Madison and McGuire.

I didn't like the typical Hollywood slam on WASPs near the end when several guys from some patriotic organization were made to look like thugs. They smugly said their group excluded "Catholics, Jews and Negroes," which, of course, started a fight with the "good guys." In the 1930s through the 1950s, Catholics were treated with tremendous reverence in films and since then they've targeted with vicious attacks by filmmakers. Protestants, meanwhile, have almost always received precious-few good mentions on film, including this one. Oh, well......it was still a good drama worth watching.

When I came back from DESERT STORM, my friends had moved, my girlfriend had a new boyfriend, everything I had was gone. It was only a year.

When I first saw "Till The End of Time", I was drinking and crying. Then I understood.

Clint Eastwood interviewed Vets for his recent movie (the one about Iwo Jimo). One of them, he movingly related, had never been able to form a relationship and start a family.

If you watch this movie you'll understand. Just being a war Vet is weird, even if you weren't shot at nor wounded. Physically.

Coming back, I couldn't get a job. I never got an interview, even after hundreds of professional resumes. No wanted me. I was alone.

Watch this movie. It and "Walk In The Sun" are the best WWII flicks I've ever seen.

There was a fair amount of discussion at the end of World War II about the difficulties combat vets might face in readjusting to normal life. "Till the End of Time" puts many of these concerns up on the screen, but the emotion that comes through so memorably in the superior "Best Years of Our Lives" is mostly absent. That's despite the efforts of Dorothy McGuire (who's perfectly cast here as the maybe-27 "older" war widow who's the only civilian who can realistically relate to college-age vet Guy Madison). Except for McGuire, the actors are all rather limited, including Madison and Robert Mitchum. That and a lackluster script make their characters less than compelling, so their very realistic problems look dismayingly like they were inflicted by soap-opera writers rather than by the war.

Like many other old movies, the film seemed stronger when it appeared. Since then, we've seen so many unhappy returned veterans in films that the three here are like instant clichés. They weren't in 1946, though, and "Till the End of Time" was one of the first movies to tell Saturday-night civilians that, like Cliff (Madison), you didn't have to be badly shot up (like Mitchum and Williams) to have been profoundly changed by battle. To his suburban parents, Cliff is now a mystery, and his mom doesn't at all approve of his new vocabulary or his friendship with a wounded Marine from "Stinking Creek, Texas." This one is mainly for fans of the stars and for those seriously interested in Hollywood's treatment of World War II

Based on the reviews here on IMDb, I was sure "Til the End of Time" would become a new favorite of mine.

I mean absolutely no disrespect to the servicemen who have commented on this film, but I can only assume they have never seen "Best Years of Our Lives", a film so superior to "Til the End.." that the suggestion that these two films are even close in quality is just plain silly.

It seems that David Selznick loaned out two of his star properties--- Guy Madison (amazingly good-looking) and Dorothy McGuire-- to RKO for "Til the End"; I wonder if the deal required that they be paired as a romantic couple? They are possibly the WORST, mis-matched pair of lovers in film history; she looks old enough to be his mother, and that goofy hair-do makes her look even worse. McGuire was a classy, distinguished actress who would go on to roles much more suitable for her. But their relationship in this film was a real turn-off to me.

So was the slow-moving, meandering plot. I loved looking at all of the outdoor location shots, and the inside of Guy Madison's family home....but there was absolutely NOTHING compelling here. Dana Andrews and Harold Russell had REAL emotional/adjustment problems in "Best Years"; Guy Madison's most intense scene was his mother's unpleasant reaction when he mentioned the smelly foxholes he experienced during the war (as he chowed down on her super-duper, giant waffles). Big deal. (But I liked Ruth Nelson's dignified performance as Guy's mother).

True, the scene with the shell-shocked soldier was moving and even harrowing----but that's the ONLY thing in this film that matches the heartache and intensity of "Best Years". But the shell-shock episode occurs in the middle of the big ice-skating scene; what the heck was THAT supposed to be about?? A chance for the young tart-next-door to show off her skating skills? And what about the dance scene in "Scruffy's" tavern--- what the heck was THAT supposed to be about?? Just an excuse to display the tart-next-door's dancing talent? In fact, why was she in the film anyway? Just another element of the plot that goes absolutely nowhere.

And speaking of going nowhere, I waited for the longest time to see Bill Williams, one of the era's most underrated, attractive and capable young actors. Boy, was I disappointed! Here's the guy who's been crippled in the war (like the Harold Russell character in "Best Years"), and he's barely on screen for more than 5 minutes. His role had great dramatic and emotional potential-- a former boxer who lost his legs in the war.

But NO---Selznick probably demanded that the bulk of the film be spent following Guy Madison around, displaying his phenomenal good looks (but modest acting talents) while the really compelling story of Bill Williams was pushed into the distant background. A real shame.

The barroom brawl at the end seemed like an afterthought; great to see Bill Williams "catch the spirit" and start kicking some a_____, but it's too little, too late.

That leaves Mitchum, another fabulous screen-presence who also gets shortchanged in favor of Guy Madison and his old-maid love interest, along with the tart-next-door (who I understand ended up marrying director Dmytryk-- which explains her prominence in the film, I suppose). Mitchum's role and its importance in the plot should have been greatly expanded; it sure would have made this loser-of-a-film a whole lot more interesting.

Hope I haven't offended anyone's feelings. I had very high hopes for this film.

LR

No need to repeat the plot. That scene where Pat (McGuire) and Cliff (Madison) encounter the shell-shocked outpatient is genuinely disturbing. For a screenplay, that's a tough problem to treat in a single set-up. Pat's little anecdotal lesson works pretty well-- the soldier is relieved of his demons for the moment. But for how long, I wonder. And what will become of him, sitting alone, quaking, and afraid to go home. And how many others will come home like him. The script says the inner wounds will wear off eventually, but then it had to say something like that, otherwise the movie's hopeful tone would be compromised. And that would be counter to what the country needs following four years of horror.

It' a decent, earnest movie, produced by the studio's (RKO) head honcho Dore Schary, so it's a prestige production. Looks like they took a gamble on an unknown Guy Madison in the lead role. He certainly looks the part—I can just about hear the echoing squeals of bobby- soxers even 60 years later. He does bring an earnestness that's refreshing, even if his range is pretty limited as the heavier scenes show. Newcomers Mitchum and the underrated Bill Williams also register, along with the dewy-eyed Dorothy McGuire before she became a favorite movie mom. But I especially like Jean Porter's vivacious teenager. It's really her Helen who projects the buoyant spirit of the coming consumer age.

There were, of course, a number of these "adjustment" films as the country struggled with a return to normalcy. Where this movie excels is with the uncertainty of a recovering civilian world. Each main character is drifting as a result of the war. Each has been changed and must now work out how to fit back in. Then too, I like the rather ambivalent way the movie ends, avoiding easy solutions.

There's one other sequence worth noting. The barroom brawl is both over-done and clumsily staged. Nonetheless, it makes an important point. Namely, that the war has changed society as well as individuals. A post-war America will be more inclusive than the traditional America. The logic appears to be that since it took everyone to win the war, no one should be excluded from the fruits. Given the civil rights movement soon to emerge, the movie thus proves prophetic. Too bad this worthy movie effort now seems so obscure. Despite the years, it remains an affecting look at a key period in American life and merits catching up with.

(In passing—that's filmmaker Blake Edwards of Pink Panther fame as the shop foreman that Cliff tangles with, soon to become a screenwriter, and then an A-picture producer-director.)

Well made post-WWII story about GI's coming home is thematiclaly very similar to "The Best Years of Our Lives" and suffers by comparison. Both films were released the same year and "Till the End of Time" is the inferior of the two, but it's a good film that deserves it's own recognition. The film is smartly directed by Edward Dmytryk ("The Caine Mutiny" "Crossfire") and based on a novel by Niven Busch (the screenwriter on "Persued" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice"), featuring a strong cast that includes Guy Madison and Robert Mitchum as soldiers returning from the war to find civilian life not as easy to adjust to as they'd expected. The main story involves Madison falling in love with war widow Dorothy McGuire. Comparing "Till the End of Time" to "The Best Years of Our Lives" is somewhat unfair since that film is an American film classic, but it's hard not to when they are so similar. Still, on it's own, "Till the End of Time" is a compelling melodrama set at a very specific time in history, with a story that remains relevant today.

Till the End of Time (1946)

You can't avoid comparing this to the astonishing, large William Wyler approach to this same topic in "The Best Years of Our Lives"-soldiers returning to their loved ones at the end of WWII. Edward Dmytryk is a good director, and he has Robert Mitchum and Dorothy McGuire at his aid, and so this holds up pretty well. (And it was released a few months before its more famous parallel.) The third lead-the main one it turns out-is Guy Madison, who is a pretty boy and not bad, but he brings a more cardboard feeling to his scenes.

But that isn't the end of the story. When Mitchum finally shows up (it feels like nearly halfway through) the energy changes. And McGuire, who has held up the movie beautifully (she's a terrific presence), intersects with real drama. It's the heart of the story, it turns out, so keep with it and get there. Dmytryk has a string of interesting films during this period, including "Murder My Sweet" and "Farewell, My Lovely." The idea of film noir depends on the trouble soldiers had returning to civilian life in the U.S. and "Till the End of Time" approaches this idea from a purely dramatic point of view (despite the presence of noir staple Mitchum). It's worth seeing if any of these themes interest you, though as a drama with structure and impact it lacks any particular punch or original insight.

I have to say I watched the Wyler film right after this one, and it's so superior to this one (not just technically, but in acting and script), it's hard to advocate for this one. Unless, again, the theme is of interest already.

Briefly, though not rated as high as "The Best Years Of Our Lives" it has more plain and simple feel to it. Dorthy McGuire (Pat Ruscomb) is underrated IMHO, but did fine acting role different than her lighthearted parts. Other major actor Robert Mitchum (William Tabeshaw) does ok since I'm not one of his fans, as

one of the three marines returning from war to civilian life.The other two marines returning to civilian life were Bill Williams (Perry Kincheloe) and the one falls in love with Dorthy's role Pat Ruscomb is Guy Madison (Cliff Harper). All three give ideas what they are going to do with the lives. Guess history repeats itself were now in the same similar mode with the Iraq War many to return after IMHO a

bizarre war to adjust to civilian life for some. A worthy watch but not in my dvd collection. 7/10.

My heart goes out to Niven Busch, the novelist and screenwriter who penned the original novel behind Till the End of Time. Hollywood bought up the rights to his story and filmed an adaptation, and mere months after its release, the incredibly similar The Best Years of Our Lives was released. Not only was that film more successful, but it swept the Academy Awards, endeared itself to American audiences in the decades to come, rendered Niven's story forgotten, and it starred Niven's wife at the time, Teresa Wright! Poor guy!

If you've seen The Best Years of Our Lives-and let's face it, who hasn't?-you'll find yourself shouting at the television set as I did, remarking at the uncanny coincidences between the two films. If you haven't seen it, feel free to skip to the next paragraph. Till the End of Time starts as three marines are getting their honorable discharge papers at the close of WWII. They take taxis back home to their small town. One young man comes home to an empty house, so he goes into town at the local bar, which has just undergone some improvements. The bartender is an old pal and doesn't let underage patrons drink. One soldier doesn't want his old job back because after years in the war, he thinks it's beneath him. One soldier has lost two limbs. There's a girl next door, characters who just want things to go back to the way they were before the war, a PTSD episode, and a brawl. These aren't spoilers, by the way, since these happen pretty quickly. Poor Niven Busch!

As much as my heart bleeds for Niven, The Best Years of Our Lives is a superior film. Hugo Friedhofer's score is one of the most beautiful film scores ever written, and the love story between the young handsome soldier and Peggy is easy to root for. In Till the End of Time, the young, handsome soldier is involved with Pat, and all they do is fight about each other's lack of consistency. Guy Madison can't hold down a job and keeps wanting to run away from his problems, and Dorothy Maguire can't help herself from fooling around with other soldiers. Their romance is the worst part of the movie! Guy is a total dreamboat, though, and I don't know why he didn't have a booming career after this movie. In only his second screen appearance, he carries the movie, oozes with confidence, swing dances, and looks ridiculously handsome. It's too bad he gets hung up on Dorothy, the town bicycle.

Hard to believe that this out-standing film has not come out on DVD. Guy Madison gives his finest on-screen performance as a returning U.S. Marine, whose World War II combat experiences have left him a changed man. For those of you too young to remember, Madison was the 1940s version of Robert Redford or Brad Pitt. Beyond his screen-idol good looks, the blonde haired Madison was a highly under-rated actor. It's really a shame that he was "saddled" in second and third rate Westerns, and ended his once-promising career in dubbed-in Italian stinkers. Till the End of Time captures a time now long gone. It was romantic, sentimental, and information. A truly great film. Keep an eye out for a young Robert Mitchuim.

A timely message at the close of WWII and one that needed to be told.

Guy Madison is quite the looker but a great actor he is not. But considering this is his first leading role, he does well enough. This was well before my time and I had never heard his name before so it was nice to stumble upon someone considered quite the heartthrob in his day. It's interesting that he ended up married to Gail Russell, who I had heard of, but apparently the marriage didn't last long (she died an early death at 36 due to alcoholism).

Mitchum shows good acting skills early in his career. Dorothy Maguire gives an interesting depiction of a war widow. Sure, she's not the best looking they could have cast here, but I think her "ordinariness" makes her character much more sympathetic and probably helped many real war widows see themselves in her character.

I'm not sure the tidy ending did anyone a service though. I doubt many vets with real problems and issues could tie up there loose ends so neatly, but this is Hollywood.

The swarthy Guy Madison "Cliff" steals this for me as one of three former US Marines returning from WWII with little hope - on just about every level. His colleague "Tabeshaw" (Robert Mitchum) has financial problems and "Perry" (Bill Williams) no longer has the use of his legs. What follows is a triptych of stories that follow each man's attempts to rehabilitate themselves into society - and a fairly indifferent society, at that. This is quite a plodding, but sympathetic adaptation of the Niven Busch book that poses some fairly far-reaching questions about loneliness and despair, hope and aspiration. A soupçon of compassion towards the young "Cliff" comes in the guise of the widowed "Pat" (Dorothy McGuire) and though none of the male leads here could ever be described as versatile, or emotive, actors - they do well enough here with the rather wordy dialogue. Though not a great film, it is still a good observation on what little effort is made to look after those folk who were prepared to give all when needed, but who when no longer needed were pretty much abandoned to their own wiles - flaws and all.

A film from 1946 with an interesting theme about the problems facing returning soldiers and their families after WW2. It takes a different tack to Best Years of Our Lives but its a good idea poorly executed and just doesn't quite pull it off. Unfortunately it's let down badly by the leading man, Guy Madison. He certainly was good looking so you can see why the studio signed him up but boy, he was no actor. Wooden doesn't describe it. He's dire. And judging from one scene in the film he couldn't dance either. Even more wooden. I gave it a chance but it's difficult to get past the terrible central performance.