In 1950, small-town Americans try to deal with military conscription.In 1950, small-town Americans try to deal with military conscription.In 1950, small-town Americans try to deal with military conscription.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
- Train Porter
- (uncredited)
- Draft Board Secretary
- (uncredited)
- Radio Baseball Announcer
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsJack should have had a regulation haircut.
- Quotes
[Arriving home with her husband after sending the youngest of their three sons off to the Korean War, Sarah begins trashing the husband's WWI shrine.]
Sarah Greer: Liar! Crazy, crazy liar! You never were in any one of those places and you know it. You never heard a shot fired. You were in Paris all through the war, shining up a general's boots, bringing him bicarbonate of soda when he'd drunk too much the night before. I went along with you; I thought it was childish, foolish, but I didn't think it did any harm. I thought if it made you feel any better to pretend you'd won the war alone, who did it hurt? But then I saw something: when your son Riley was killed
[in WWII]
Sarah Greer: , you were proud. And Martin was missing for four days in France; it made you feel important. You were a big man in Iverson's bar for an evening. Well, that's all over. You can take all this junk right back where you captured it with your own two hands, back to the pawn shop on Sixth Avenue in New York. As of this evening, there are no more professional heroes in this house.
But what of the rest of their lives of that "greatest generation." The day after showing "Best Years," and ending a semester, TCM ran this little gem, "I Want You," and it is almost like a sequel of five years later, about a generation that fought a global war, thought they were coming home to peace and now face remobilization, and also watching their kid brothers getting drafted to go off to a distant unknown front. It is by no means as good as Best Years, but you will see the connection with so many of the same actors, and it almost looks as if it was shot in the same town.
One must definitely remember the context of the time to better understand this film. When made, the bitter quagmire of Korea was still being fought out, hanging over all the specter that it could escalate into yet another global war, this time with nuclear weapons. The tragedy is so evident, recalling how the three vets in Best Years say that all they want is a family and to live in peace. Again, when made, how the conflict would end, if it would ever end, was an unknown.
So definitely see the two films together in sequence. The greatness of the first will lead you into this second, that though no where near as good, is an accurate reflection on the tragic world of our parents and grandparents who after fighting WWII simply wanted to live in peace, and found they never would.
- wforstchen
- May 14, 2009
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
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- Also known as
- Im Sturm der Zeit
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- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1