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The Human Comedy (1943) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   598 votes
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Director:
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for The Human Comedy on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 February 1944 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Plot:
Teenager Homer Macauley stays at home in small-town Ithaca to support his family, while his older brother Marcus prepares to go to war. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations more
NewsDesk:
User Comments:
One of the most heartwarming movies I have ever seen. more (34 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Mickey Rooney ... Homer Macauley
Frank Morgan ... Willie Grogan
James Craig ... Tom Spangler
Marsha Hunt ... Diana Steed
Fay Bainter ... Mrs. Macauley
Ray Collins ... Mr. Macauley - ghost

Van Johnson ... Marcus Macauley

Donna Reed ... Bess Macauley
Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins ... Ulysses ('Useless') Macauley
Dorothy Morris ... Mary - Marcus's girl next door

John Craven ... Tobey George
Anne Ayars ... Mrs. Rose Sandoval
Mary Nash ... Miss Hicks - history teacher
Henry O'Neill ... Mr. Charles Steed
Katharine Alexander ... Mrs. Steed
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Additional Details

Runtime:
118 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Writer William Saroyan wanted desperately to direct the film despite having no experience in directing. Louis B. Mayer told Saroyan that he would consider the request and assigned the writer to direct a one reel short. The short film was a disappointment and studio stalwart Clarence Brown was promptly assigned. Saroyan was so bitter about the experience he wrote a play about Mayer soon after titled "Get Away Old Man". more
Quotes:
Mr. Macauley: I am Matthew Macauley. I have been dead for two years. So much of me is still living that I know now the end is only the beginning. As I look down on my homeland of Ithaca, California, with its cactus, vineyards and orchards, I see that so much of me is still living there - in the places I've been, in the fields and streets and church and most of all in my home, where my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions still live in the daily life of my loved ones. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "MGM: When the Lion Roars" (1992) more
Soundtrack:
All the World Will Be Jealous of Me more

FAQ

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34 out of 35 people found the following comment useful.
One of the most heartwarming movies I have ever seen., 24 February 2001
Author: Jim McMahon (zen11@msn.com) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Human Comedy begins with the voice of the deceased father describing life in the small town of Ithaca California. He slowly introduces the viewer to his family in such a warm and loving way, that you are convinced that love really does survive death. The movie goes on to follow the lives of the family as they cope with the daily trials and tribulations of life in war time America. To those of us removed by time from this era, this movie transports you back to a place where values such as patriotism, neighborliness, compassion and community are alive and vibrate in the hearts and souls of those living through the war on America's home front. This movie never fails to move me every time I view it. There is really something magical about the confluence of events, from the voice and ghostly appearance of the recently deceased father, to the flesh and blood everyday characters that populate the film, to the young soldier who never had a family and comes to Ithica to fufill his own dream. What a movie! And the most surprising element of the entire story is the fact that even though told from the vantage point of the dead, the movie is totally and refreshenly life affirming. One of the most heart warming movies I have ever seen, I cannot recommend it enough.

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