This is a small quiet film with much tenderness. Much like TENDER COMRADE. It's stars Paulette Goddard and Sonny Tufts, fresh from their successful teaming in SO PROUDLY WE HAIL. Paulette is a well meaning home front entertain-the-troops while on leave. Along comes Sonny and sparks fly. However, Paulette won't take anything serious as she doesn't want to get hurt when the fellows take off to fight the war. It's fun and sometimes sensitive in how she finally promises to wait for him to come home. I liked this movie because of the underplaying of the leads. Tufts is often made fun of for his one level acting [including the joke at Academy Award time when a star was introducing the next guest by saying " And now, here's Sonny Tufts?"] but I founf him in this film as he was in SO PROUDLY WE HAIL to hold his own and work well with Paulette. Maybe she did that for him. Nice small role of the San Francisco [the setting] cable car conductor played by Barry Fitzgerald. I have a poster of this film featuring Paulette leaning up against Tufts who has got to be at least six foot five. Well paced and directed by Mark Sandrich. Not on VHS or Television, I got this on tape through Video Finders, a great source for old films you can't find anywhere.
4 Reviews
I absolutely love this movie, so much so I watch it several times a day.
barlem-4814329 March 2023
I now consider this movie as being at the top of my personal collection. If I was in Eve's place I probably wouldn't have even considered turning my back on marrying Danny , even knowing he was going back overseas again. Every moment with him I would have treasured.
I have seen Ann Doran in several movies but, none of which affected me so strongly. When her husband (played by I'm sure Hugh Beaumont) came home, I cried as Jenny greeted him home and didn't allow his blindness affect her love for him. Then Eve placed his baby in his arms, which was sad because he would never see his child and had Jenny describe the baby to him. Jenny was a very strong woman, I too would be praising God for John's return
Walter Sande was also unforgettable in hi roll of Stiff and Mary Trent as Cissy was very good also as she portraid herself as an irritating person with her constantly correcting Stiff and pushing him away as he wanted to be affectionate after they were engaged.
Barry Fitzgerald was priceless when he excitedly came into the apartment asking for Jenny, then having John led in prior to his wife coming into the room and seeing her husband standing there.
I have seen Ann Doran in several movies but, none of which affected me so strongly. When her husband (played by I'm sure Hugh Beaumont) came home, I cried as Jenny greeted him home and didn't allow his blindness affect her love for him. Then Eve placed his baby in his arms, which was sad because he would never see his child and had Jenny describe the baby to him. Jenny was a very strong woman, I too would be praising God for John's return
Walter Sande was also unforgettable in hi roll of Stiff and Mary Trent as Cissy was very good also as she portraid herself as an irritating person with her constantly correcting Stiff and pushing him away as he wanted to be affectionate after they were engaged.
Barry Fitzgerald was priceless when he excitedly came into the apartment asking for Jenny, then having John led in prior to his wife coming into the room and seeing her husband standing there.
A sense of unity
jarrodmcdonald-116 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Some of the most important films from the studio era have already slipped into obscurity. This is one of them. It occurs to me how much care is put into these productions, which makes it all the more lamentable that people no longer watch them.
Paulette Goddard is the lead, re-teamed with her director (Mark Sandrich) and costar (Sonny Tufts) from the previous year's smash hit SO PROUDLY WE HAIL!. It is also from Paramount and also written by Sandrich's frequent collaborator Allan Scott. Miss Goddard came to starring roles in Hollywood by way of her association with Charlie Chaplin- so there's built-in prestige when she's cast in a picture, even if she's playing a working class nobody like she is here.
The character is not really a bad girl. She's welding by day in a factory and entertaining soldiers by night. But she's got issues, serious commitment issues. She also has earned a reputation as someone who is not altogether responsible, because of her unwillingness to settle down. This is not to say she doesn't have a few respectable friends.
Her roommate (Ann Doran) is a well-regarded bride expecting a baby, whose husband is off in the war. And two other gals (Marie McDonald and Mary Treen) that live down the hall and work the same shift at the factory get on great with Goddard. Treen, in particular, develops a close bond with Goddard when they become involved with two military pals (Tufts and Walter Sande), and things start to get serious.
Meanwhile, two other respectable people are added into the mix. They include Barry Fitzgerald as a kind-hearted cable car operator, providing some lighter moments...as well as Beulah Bondi as a lonely society woman whose nephew has been killed in action. She provides some of the more dramatic heartfelt moments.
One very good thing about Scott's script is that all these characters- old/young; rich/poor; married/unmarried- come together like family. The war creates a sense of unity that cuts across socio economic lines. This community feeling is most evident during the church wedding sequence when Treen's character is married...and during the part when Doran gives birth.
At the heart of the story, of course, is Goddard's relationship with Tufts. Initially, she fights her attraction to him, but eventually gives in. Then pow! She finds out he has a wife back east. However, the wife is filing for divorce and has gone to Mexico to obtain her independence. This frees Tufts up to be with Goddard, but the war is still not over...he's being shipped off to Asia.
There is a wonderful final sequence where Goddard is able to overcome her own personal issues and fully commit to Tufts the soldier she loves, despite any uncertainties about their future life.
At an hour and forty-six minutes, this is more than a standard romance comedy-drama. Scott's script takes us deep into the war wounds and healings of the characters. We believe in them as real people from a distinct time and place.
Paulette Goddard is the lead, re-teamed with her director (Mark Sandrich) and costar (Sonny Tufts) from the previous year's smash hit SO PROUDLY WE HAIL!. It is also from Paramount and also written by Sandrich's frequent collaborator Allan Scott. Miss Goddard came to starring roles in Hollywood by way of her association with Charlie Chaplin- so there's built-in prestige when she's cast in a picture, even if she's playing a working class nobody like she is here.
The character is not really a bad girl. She's welding by day in a factory and entertaining soldiers by night. But she's got issues, serious commitment issues. She also has earned a reputation as someone who is not altogether responsible, because of her unwillingness to settle down. This is not to say she doesn't have a few respectable friends.
Her roommate (Ann Doran) is a well-regarded bride expecting a baby, whose husband is off in the war. And two other gals (Marie McDonald and Mary Treen) that live down the hall and work the same shift at the factory get on great with Goddard. Treen, in particular, develops a close bond with Goddard when they become involved with two military pals (Tufts and Walter Sande), and things start to get serious.
Meanwhile, two other respectable people are added into the mix. They include Barry Fitzgerald as a kind-hearted cable car operator, providing some lighter moments...as well as Beulah Bondi as a lonely society woman whose nephew has been killed in action. She provides some of the more dramatic heartfelt moments.
One very good thing about Scott's script is that all these characters- old/young; rich/poor; married/unmarried- come together like family. The war creates a sense of unity that cuts across socio economic lines. This community feeling is most evident during the church wedding sequence when Treen's character is married...and during the part when Doran gives birth.
At the heart of the story, of course, is Goddard's relationship with Tufts. Initially, she fights her attraction to him, but eventually gives in. Then pow! She finds out he has a wife back east. However, the wife is filing for divorce and has gone to Mexico to obtain her independence. This frees Tufts up to be with Goddard, but the war is still not over...he's being shipped off to Asia.
There is a wonderful final sequence where Goddard is able to overcome her own personal issues and fully commit to Tufts the soldier she loves, despite any uncertainties about their future life.
At an hour and forty-six minutes, this is more than a standard romance comedy-drama. Scott's script takes us deep into the war wounds and healings of the characters. We believe in them as real people from a distinct time and place.
Burning the candle at both ends in order to do her part for the war effort.
planktonrules20 April 2024
This film was set during WWII. Eve (Paulette Goddard) works hard at a defense plant during the day and as often as she can, she goes out all night dancing and hanging out with sailors and soldiers. She likes the life but she does NOT want any romantic entanglements. After all, if she falls for a guy, he might just get killed and she'd be left to grieve for him.
In light of this, it's very surprising when two soldiers arrive to talk to her about their dead buddy, Richie. It seems he told his soldier buddies and family a completely fictional depiction of his love life...and based it all on one single date and a photo of him with Eve. At first, they think she's awful because she cannot recall the guy...until she explains her story to one of them, Dan (Sonny Tufts). So how does this mix-up result in something she desperately has avoided...a romantic entanglement?!
This is a nice, sentimental war film...one that doesn't focus on the enemy but the sacrifices men and women in the States went through to win the war. And, for the infamous Sonny Tufts, it's probably his best film, which isn't really saying all that much. But it is a pleasant film and is well made in most every way.
In light of this, it's very surprising when two soldiers arrive to talk to her about their dead buddy, Richie. It seems he told his soldier buddies and family a completely fictional depiction of his love life...and based it all on one single date and a photo of him with Eve. At first, they think she's awful because she cannot recall the guy...until she explains her story to one of them, Dan (Sonny Tufts). So how does this mix-up result in something she desperately has avoided...a romantic entanglement?!
This is a nice, sentimental war film...one that doesn't focus on the enemy but the sacrifices men and women in the States went through to win the war. And, for the infamous Sonny Tufts, it's probably his best film, which isn't really saying all that much. But it is a pleasant film and is well made in most every way.
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