The title "I Want You" is a double entendre, covering both the military draft and one character's romantic involvement. A strong script by novelist Irwin Shaw avoids patrioteering, flag waving, speech making and denunciations of the Communists.
Story shows a three generatoin family that owns a small contracting business dealing with the unexpected outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. The lead character, a WW2 engineer veteran with a reserve commission, turns down his bookkeeper's request for a letter that will get the bookkeeper's son a draft deferment as "indispensable." The lead's own younger brother is drafted, and the lead is faced with the possibility of being recalled to the army to build airfields, though he could probably obtain an exemption as a married business owner with two small children. The crisis comes when the bookkeeper's son is reported MIA in Korea, the bookkeeper blames his boss for not getting him the deferment, and the lead has to decide whether to return to active duty over his wife's strong objection.
There's also a romantic subplot between the lead's kid brother and the girl he dotes on. She's the daughter of a well to do family who has gone off to college. Her parents thoroughly disapprove of the young man as an unfocused scapegrace not fit for their daughter. Her father is head of the local draft board, and it is no accident that the boyfriend gets drafted despite a "trick knee" that had previously gotten him a deferment.
Dialog and behavior are low key, realistic and plausible. There are a couple of bits that stand out. One is when the lead offers to buy the bookkeeper's 19 year old kid a beer when the boy asks him for advice about getting along in the army. The bartender refuses to serve the underaged boy. Then the radio announces US involvement in the Korean War, and the bartender wordlessly pours the kid a beer. The second is a conversation between the lead's 7 year old son and their next door neighbor, an English war bride, about what it's like to be bombed. The child is not precocious, and the conversation develops naturally as one would between a curious boy and a kindly adult who gently tells him the truth. A third is a conversation between the girfriend and the lead's wife, who had married him at the beginning of WW2, about what the girlfriend could look forward to.
I had never heard of this move and was very pleasantly surprised. It isn't The Best Years Of Our Lives, but it's as honest and convincing a look at that time and place as Production Code Hollywood could have produced.
Story shows a three generatoin family that owns a small contracting business dealing with the unexpected outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. The lead character, a WW2 engineer veteran with a reserve commission, turns down his bookkeeper's request for a letter that will get the bookkeeper's son a draft deferment as "indispensable." The lead's own younger brother is drafted, and the lead is faced with the possibility of being recalled to the army to build airfields, though he could probably obtain an exemption as a married business owner with two small children. The crisis comes when the bookkeeper's son is reported MIA in Korea, the bookkeeper blames his boss for not getting him the deferment, and the lead has to decide whether to return to active duty over his wife's strong objection.
There's also a romantic subplot between the lead's kid brother and the girl he dotes on. She's the daughter of a well to do family who has gone off to college. Her parents thoroughly disapprove of the young man as an unfocused scapegrace not fit for their daughter. Her father is head of the local draft board, and it is no accident that the boyfriend gets drafted despite a "trick knee" that had previously gotten him a deferment.
Dialog and behavior are low key, realistic and plausible. There are a couple of bits that stand out. One is when the lead offers to buy the bookkeeper's 19 year old kid a beer when the boy asks him for advice about getting along in the army. The bartender refuses to serve the underaged boy. Then the radio announces US involvement in the Korean War, and the bartender wordlessly pours the kid a beer. The second is a conversation between the lead's 7 year old son and their next door neighbor, an English war bride, about what it's like to be bombed. The child is not precocious, and the conversation develops naturally as one would between a curious boy and a kindly adult who gently tells him the truth. A third is a conversation between the girfriend and the lead's wife, who had married him at the beginning of WW2, about what the girlfriend could look forward to.
I had never heard of this move and was very pleasantly surprised. It isn't The Best Years Of Our Lives, but it's as honest and convincing a look at that time and place as Production Code Hollywood could have produced.