I liked how this film started, and was a little surprised that in 1942, with the need to boost wartime morale, it was not afraid to allude to the horror of the previous world war - a man suffering amnesia because of the things he'd seen in action. Greer Garson is charming as the woman who takes him in, exuding the friendliness that is so central to the part, as well as delivering in the emotional scenes that come later. As an added bonus, we get to see her in a cute dance routine early on with the "Highland Lassies." Ronald Colman is also his usual stately, dignified self, though too old to be returning from war and then in the film's relationships (he was 51, Garson was 38, and Susan Peters, another love interest, 21). The film goes for the jugular in its romantic parts, and while I'm usually a sucker for that sort of thing, I found it less satisfying than many reviewers.
Director Mervyn LeRoy treats his viewers with respect by not tediously explaining plot inflections, but the script does not, because it asks us to swallow too much. I don't mind suspending disbelief to some extent, but this one carries the old Hollywood trope of amnesia to the limit with everything else that comes along in the story, and in various character motivations (though I'll spare the reader a long list, lest I come across as tediously cynical). There's also a glossiness to it all that kept me at an emotional distance.
I have to say though, I loved thinking about it in a figurative way, as representing the initial excitement fading in a marriage and needing to rediscover it, you know, finding the key again. I don't think that was a part of the intention, but wonder if it's a part of the film's emotional power, since that feeling is obviously more universal than the far-fetched melodrama we get here. Bottom line, it's decent and I'm glad I watched it, but it's flawed - and from reading about Hilton's book, I wish the film had found the creativity to be faithful to it. Oh, and lastly, fans of this film may also like Orson Welles, Claudette Colbert, and young Natalie Wood in 'Tomorrow is Forever' (1946), which has some similarities.
Director Mervyn LeRoy treats his viewers with respect by not tediously explaining plot inflections, but the script does not, because it asks us to swallow too much. I don't mind suspending disbelief to some extent, but this one carries the old Hollywood trope of amnesia to the limit with everything else that comes along in the story, and in various character motivations (though I'll spare the reader a long list, lest I come across as tediously cynical). There's also a glossiness to it all that kept me at an emotional distance.
I have to say though, I loved thinking about it in a figurative way, as representing the initial excitement fading in a marriage and needing to rediscover it, you know, finding the key again. I don't think that was a part of the intention, but wonder if it's a part of the film's emotional power, since that feeling is obviously more universal than the far-fetched melodrama we get here. Bottom line, it's decent and I'm glad I watched it, but it's flawed - and from reading about Hilton's book, I wish the film had found the creativity to be faithful to it. Oh, and lastly, fans of this film may also like Orson Welles, Claudette Colbert, and young Natalie Wood in 'Tomorrow is Forever' (1946), which has some similarities.