Since You Went Away (Roadshow Edition)

Since You Went Away is the sort of wartime weepy that deserves far more recognition than it has received in the years since WWII. A great cast and an important story to tell. Kino's Blu-ray is a mess; riddled in artifacts, noise, a barrage of age-related damage. Why this release was not given the necessary clean up it deserves is beyond me. Buy for content. The disc will definitely not win any awards!

I absolutely love this film it’s now my second must watch film about life on the homefront during world war 2. My first is a post-war film call The best years of our lives. A story about 3 ex-servicemen returning home after the war to their regular lives and having trouble readjusting . Since you went away is a heartwarming film about family life on the homefront . It’s has it heart wrenching scenes and lighter humourous moments . I couldn’t believe the 3 hour running time of this film just flew by. The best years of our lives was roughly the same length.if you are a world war 2 buff like myself or just like classic films you must watch it.You won’t regret it.

This is one of my favorite movies. It has excellent performances by all the actors. It is a long movie, but so good you don't notice the time and wish there was more.I think Hattie McDaniel is great in a role as a loved and respected person. Her interaction with Joseph Cotten is terrific, especially in one scene I won't tell about. The humorous part of her role would probably be different now, but I enjoy it because it shows a great actor showing her ability to do excellent work during a difficult time in our history. She was a civil rights pioneer who helped clear a trail for others to follow, improve, and extend.Also, as you watch Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, keep in mind that they were going through a very unhappy divorce when this was being filmed.I bet you would enjoy this movie too.

A classic and highly popular film which has not aged with time, and it was made in 1943! It provides an accurate time capsule of the time in which it was made, and I know, because I was on the planet then and my dad was serving in the U.S. Army. One facet of the story that is seldom noted is that the family's black housekeeper, maid and surrogate mother to the entire family, has to be let go because the budget can't afford her salary. She goes to work for a wealthy family in town and makes more money but comes back to the home she lived and worked in so long because she misses the family, she misses her room, and she misses the feeling of being home and belonging. The answer from Claudette Colbert: Your room was always your room, your room is still your room and if you want to come back come back and I could never take your money. So she comes back and it is very clear from the film she is not stuck in her beloved room but is a part of family life as she always was. This is a powerful message but delivered so effectively it is seldom commented on. Hattie McDaniel is of course pitch perfect in her role, giving it so many nuances we forget we are watching an actor act.

This is one of my favorites... a little schmaltzy, but who doesn't love that sometimes... we need a little more schmaltz! Movie arrived great and enjoyed watching. Wish there were more extras!

If you must have a plot in your movie, then this one will be a change of pace for you - it's all about relationships, & it's exceptionally well done. From beginning to end, it's 100% about people interacting with one another during war time (WW2). I was 6 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed, grew up in the Los Angele, CA area & though this film came out when I was 9 ('44), I didn't see it till I was 77 (2012). At times the tears streamed down my face as I was viewing this film, though I wasn't really crying. The memories crowded in of that time in my life. I have crossed paths with quite a number of movie stars in my life, & I remember almost literally bumping into Shirley Temple one morning as I descended some stairs of a motel in Carmel Highlands, CA back in the late '80s. The very famous, easily recognizable smile she flashed at me as her face turned towards me blew me completely away & I was unable to greet her as I would have liked to. Onr of those situations you kick yourself about later.This movie was deliberately made to emphasize the importance of how people need to give encouragement & support to one another - especially in times of crises. I appreciate movies that emphasize that as this one did, & actors who act it out, writers who write about it, & those others who are also involved. Most of those involved in the making of this film are now dead. Shirley Temple is still alive. Kudos to you, Shirley - & to the others who in films like this help us to realize who we should be as human being made in God's image, & how we should act towards one another.

Although I have been a classic film fan since I was a child, I did not see this film until about five years ago. It is wonderful. Every character is beautifully cast. I keep my copy in my row of "Christmas" movies, but it is a film to watch all year around. I especially applaud the performance of Agnes Moorehead as the sarcastic "holier than thou" Emily Hawkins. Joseph Cotten is his usual outstanding self. Robert Walker (Sr.) is so convincing as the young soldier looking for approval from his grandfather, you want to reach out into the screen and give him a hug (well, that's the mother in me). Claudette Colbert and Jennifer Jones are a great mother-daughter team and the main reasons I watch this film with a Kleenex box nearby. Hattie McDaniel is the faithful Fidelia, and McDaniel shows her acting cops, especially in her scenes with Joseph Cotten Monty Woolley as Colonel Smollett is a role that Woolley does best: the blustering grumpy man with a warm, caring heart he keeps hidden. Shirley Temple and the dog Soda are a bit of comic relief, but Temple plays her part of the younger teenaged daughter very well and with minimal "cuteness". The story is finely told during World War II and tells of the hardships on the home front for those who must wait and pray and work and hold things together. It is a lovely movie.

I liked a lot this war time (1944) long, slow paced classic, with an impressive performance by all actors! Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.January 1943. Anne Hilton (Claudette Colbert) comes home after seeing off her husband, Tim Hilton, who went to war (we never see the husband during all the film – only his pictures). She is soon joined by her daughters, Jane (Jennifer Jones), who is 18 (or may be 19) and Bridget (Shirley Temple), who is around 14 years old. They will have to learn how to cope without the husband and father and make other sacrifices for the war effort, like giving up the services of their maid Fidelia (Hattie McDaniel) and taking in a boarder, the unpleasant and very ancient Colonel (Ret.) Smollett (Monty Woolley). War will last long and the film is long too, therefore Hilton women will face many difficult moments. An old friend of family, Tony Willett (Joseph Cotton) will circle around Anne, now that her husband is absent, and Jane will have a suitor, a shy young fellow named Bill Smollett (Robert Walker), corporal in US Army and incidentally also the grandson of Col (Ret.) Smollett… I will say no more about the story.This is an EXCELLENT film. At 172 minutes it is very long and the rhythm is slow, very slow – but I swear I didn't see the time passing and at the end I was just sorry that there is no more of it. All actors did an AMAZING job – including the dog who plays the family bulldog, Soda, named like that probably because he makes bubbles when slobbering…))) There is a lot of humour but also a lot of sadness in this film, which gave all actors many opportunities to show their talent. I will not say more here, to avoid spoilers.I was particularly impressed by Jennifer Jones, who, although less known than many other actresses from the 40s, still made a great career and stayed beautiful a long time – she was still shining in her last appearance in "Towering Inferno" in 1974. Her role is particularly difficult here, as she must show a transformation from a silly girl into a strong young woman going through hard times.There is however also a very unpleasant element in this film, although it is not immediately apparent on the screen. One can be somehow surprised how weak, wimpy and generally lame the character of Bill Smollett appears. The explanation is that actor Robert Walker was at that time in real life the husband of Jennifer Jones, the actress who plays Jane (they had two sons, born respectively in 1940 and 1941). However, their marriage was already ending as since 1943 Jennifer Jones was also the mistress of the producer of the film, David Selznick… Although Walker and Jones were already separated pending divorce, Selznick, although much richer and more powerful, still feared the husband (who was 16 years younger than him…). Therefore not only he forced Walker to act with his soon to be ex-wife but he also had the role rewritten in such a way, that the actor had to suffer humiliation after humiliation in interactions with a woman, which was stolen from him by a stronger male…Walker never fully recovered from this ordeal, his career suffered and in 1949 he was committed to a psychiatric hospital. After his release it seemed that his career could take off again, as he aced his role of the villain in Hitchock's "Strangers on a train". He died however in 1951 in extremely suspect circumstances, after he had a nervous break and his doctor administered him forcibly (it took two men to hold him down) a powerful dose of amobarbital, although knowing that actor was heavily drinking just before… There was an investigation but the death was ruled accidental. Walker was then barely 32 years old.That horrible story notwithstanding the film is a GREAT moment of cinema, worth watching and re-watching. I will definitely keep my DVD. ENJOY!

I brought it for myself as a couple of times I have watched it on talking pictures, and enjoyed it film very much for the story line and the acting . Dont make films like that today Mrs Hayford

The only interesting part in this film when we see Agnes Moorehead for the first time 25 minutes into the film. Her presence is blocked out when Joseph Cotton enters the scene and speaks to Claudette Colbert by standing in front of Moorehead. It is like someone who offers your colleague friendship but excludes you in the process. These subtleties work well in old films but are made far too obvious today in films. A good cast, but far too long and drawn out.

Great film so moving

Loved this DVD. My 84 yr old Mum and 91 yr old Dad loved it also proving that the old black and white films still appeal hugely to all ages.