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Till the End of Time More at IMDbPro »

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33 reviews in total

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28 out of 30 people found the following review useful:
Hollywood studio system product is unconventional in many respects, 12 October 2002

Author: reelguy2 from Boulder, Colorado

Released a few months before the better-known The Best Years of Our Lives, Till the End of Time also deals with the plight of servicemen returning to their home towns after World War Two. But while Best Years - for all its craftsmanship and excellent performances - strikes me as conventional and highly reliant on stereotyped characters, Till the End of Time offers a complex character study and an almost subversive picture of veterans facing the unrealistic expectations of post-war America. All the main characters in Till the End of Time have been psychologically traumatized by the war; they are all willing to help their friends but seem incapable of helping themselves. In this respect, the film is forward-looking to the character studies, such as Coming Home, made in Hollywood after the Vietnam War.

In his first major screen role and one that would be very demanding for even the most seasoned actor, Guy Madison doesn't consistently rise to the dramatic challenges, but he nicely suggests the innocent quality of a veteran who finds himself unprepared to meet the everyday challenges of civilian life. Madison does register effectively in several of his scenes - notably his homecoming, his initial attraction to Dorothy McGuire at the local bar (one of the fastest "pickups" ever seen in a Production Code Era film), the reunion and subsequent flare-up with his parents, and his testiness with his foreman at his new job. And with his refulgent good looks, Madison's screen presence is probably the most overwhelming display of masculine beauty ever seen on the screen.

Many viewers seem to have a difficult time reconciling the edgy, unappealing aspects of McGuire's character (and her admittedly dowdy appearance) to the actress's intelligent work here, which is totally consistent with the qualities of her character. I appreciate the fact that McGuire avoids leading lady predictability and creates a flesh-and-blood character.

Till the End of Time is a powerful film with believable characters and themes that continue to be highly relevant for today's audiences.

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23 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
Guy Madison's Greatest Role, 11 March 2006

Author: BarneyBergman from United States

Hard to believe that this out-standing film has not come out on DVD. Guy Madison gives his finest on-screen performance as a returning U.S. Marine, whose World War II combat experiences have left him a changed man. For those of you too young to remember, Madison was the 1940s version of Robert Redford or Brad Pitt. Beyond his screen-idol good looks, the blonde haired Madison was a highly under-rated actor. It's really a shame that he was "saddled" in second and third rate Westerns, and ended his once-promising career in dubbed-in Italian stinkers. Till the End of Time captures a time now long gone. It was romantic, sentimental, and information. A truly great film. Keep an eye out for a young Robert Mitchuim.

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19 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
Returning vets vehicle was Madison's shining moment on screen, 4 March 2002

Author: bmacv from Western New York

The year after World War II ended brought the first dramas to look at the plight of returning veterans trying to readjust to civilian norms. The Best Years of Our Lives was the big hit that year, but there were others, too. The title song in Till The End of Time, which was adapted from a Chopin polonaise, snakes through the movie wearing many skins, from saraband to Swing, constituting one of the more effective leitmotifs of 40s-movie scores. The story centers on Guy Madison, returning from the Pacific to his Los Angeles family. His parents expect the boy who left, not the man (physically, at least) who came back; they recoil when he wants to share his experiences in battle. So he starts to rebel against their sheltered and complacent life but has little idea of what to do with his own.

His love life is riven as well. One the one side there's the brash bobby-soxer next door, symbolizing what he used to be; on the other is weary war-widow Dorothy McGuire (among her most affecting roles), another survivor of the horrors of combat.

It's tempting to assume that Madison landed this meaty role (he's constantly on screen) solely because of his looks -- extraordinary, even by Hollywood standards. But he delivers a natural, if a bit bashful, performance. Only when buddy Robert Mitchum resurfaces halfway through the movie does he suffer by comparison. As a black sheep with a steel plate in his skull, Mitchum strikes the sparks that would ignite his long stardom; Madison, while pleasant and competent, comes up with nothing new and starts to grow monotonous (his career took him to TV westerns and European cheapies).

Director Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet; Back to Bataan) tones down for this leisurely character study, which remains absorbing and at times close to moving. He missteps once, very near the end, when a blast at bigotry comes flying out of left field, and he probably had to settle for the upbeat ending the studio wanted. But it was left to film noir, which dealt with similar issues obliquely (Blue Dahlia, Act of Violence, Dmytryk's own Crossfire) that probed them more profoundly.

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15 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Good soap opera., 6 February 2000
Author: Cajun-4 from Toronto, Canada

I picked this up for $5 at a sale just because it had Robert Mitchum's name on the credits. Mitchum's role is secondary but I found I enjoyed the movie rather more than I thought I would.

I understand it was released the same year as THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES and was rather over shadowed by that more expensive production.

The theme is dated, servicemen adjusting to civilian life after WW2, it is basically a soap opera but it very well handled by director Edward Dmytryk. Chopin's music is cleverly interwoven throughout, as background music, as a popular song with lyrics added heard over the radio and even jazzed up in a barroom sequence.

Performances are good. Guy Madison is no great shakes as an actor but he looks the part, give an honest performance and doesn't bump into the furniture. Dorothy Mcguire has always been a favorite of mine. Usually she played dowdy housewives but she had a neat figure and to me she had a down to earth sex appeal.

Well worth seeing.

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21 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
Even better post-WWII drama than "The Best Years of Our Lives"--See it!, 11 April 2003

Author: sdiner82 (sdiner82@aol.com) from New York City, USA

From what I've read, "Till the End of Time," a heartbreakingly adult portrayal of the problems of ex-GIs returning hone after the conclusion of WWII, was eclipsed by the tremendous success of "The Best Years of Our Lives," released during the same year (1946). I'm probably a minority of one, but much prefer this film to the latter (though I love that one, too). My favorite, most underrated actress of all-time, Dorothy McGuire, should have won all the Best-Actress awards for her raw, lacerating, wounded portrayal of a war widow hitting the bottle to cope with the reality that her husband will not be coming home--and finds love, solace and sexual comfort via her affair with a younger--but equally lost and confused ex-GI, portrayed with equal hurt and sensitivity by the cruelly underrated Guy Madison (yes, Madison was duly celebrated for his good looks--but never received his proper due as an actor of quiet strength and aching vulnerability). The Hays Office must have been asleep (thank God!) when this couple with chemistry to spare escape for an interlude on the beach (and eclipse the ridiculously overrated clinch between Lancaster & Kerr in "From Here to Eternity"), expressing their unbridled lust--and mutual emotional needs--with a bold honesty rarely captured on the screen--in ANY movie. Madison's parents, confused by their young son's remoteness and desperation and well-meaning attempts to treat him as the naive young son they saw off to war (the scene at the dining room table when Madison unintentionally horrifies them by describing the filth and horrors of his wartime experiences is one of the most shatteringly honest moments in the movie) are portrayed by Tom Tully and Ruth Nelson with anguished candor. And the reappearance in the last portion of the film by Madison's physically disabled war comrades, Robert Mitchum and Bill Williams, as lost and shattered as he is, build to a sequence in a bar involving racial bigotry that will clutch your heart. I find it shocking that several commentators on this database have remarked how unattractive they find Ms. McGuire. Prior to this movie, Ms. McGuire was known for light-hearted comedies (at which she excelled). But finally given the chance to portray a straight, often heartrending adult role, Ms. McGuire radiates a mature, unglamorized sexuality and raw candor that she was never again allowed to show in the movies. She was never as beautiful and meltingly honest as she was allowed to be in "Till the End of Time." And her romantic relationship with the equally neglected but touchingly sincere Mr. Madison creates a spontaneous combustion rarely seen in a motion picture--before or since. "Till the End of Time" is no soap opera. It stands as a compassionate and haunting depiction of human beings in need of other human beings during times of almost unendurable stress. It has never been equalled, and is one of the handful of films I can truly call a work of art.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Catch This One!, 23 June 2000

Author: ronnie from United States

..If only to see beautiful and appealing Guy Madison in one of his earlier roles before lost to western films and TV ("Wild Bill Hickok") in the 1950s. Madison is the focal point here, portraying a returning serviceman from World War II and his subsequent adjustment to civilian life with sincerity and easy-going charm. Brad Pitt has a bit of his extremely handsome blonde, athletic looks, but not ingratiating acting prowess. (Madison is on the cover of "Hearthrob", a book about male cinema stars). Top-billed Dorothy McGuire is really support, somewhat of a matronly mis-matched love interest for the youthful Madison. A lovely score and good direction offset some dated aspects in the script. But Madison carries the day!

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Time Capsule Movie, 5 June 2004
Author: harry-76 from Cleveland, Ohio

This takes one back to the end of WWII when GIs were being released from service and coming home to dubious situations.

Confused, disoriented, and restive, these ex-service men were suddenly thrust into lifestyles for which they were unprepared. From holding a bayoneted rifle to pushing a pencil, the transition was abrupt and strange.

Many drifted into and out of relationships, while others took to the bottle as a form of escape. "Till the End of Time" dramatizes a few of these plights with some interest.

Cast in the lead role was Guy Madison, newly "discovered" by Henry Willson and David O. Selznick for a snippet but memorable scene in "Since You Went Away" (and shot quickly while Madison was on navy leave). After being mustered out of the service a couple of years later, Hollywood was eagerly waiting to cast him in what really amounted to his first feature (barring the earlier "cameo"). Unfortunately it was a starring role.

That was a pity, for the young "find" needed small vehicles in which to mature and grow in the profession. That he comes off as well as he does here is commendable, yet it does him a great disservice. Guy's reedy, inconsistent, and even amateurish looking--qualities that would have been honed and polished, had he the sensitive career management other similar "discoveries" were afforded.

Having his greatest weaknesses so exposed in a lead part, Madison was "written off" for other starring roles, and pushed into routine westerns--where he more or less remained for the rest of his career. However, his appearance in some seven dozen radio, television and movie parts ain't especially hay. And while he may not have been considered the greatest actor, he did make an honest living that put food on the table for the rest of his life.

His costars here are the excellent Robert Mitchum and Dorothy McGuire, and they certainly help bolster the proceedings. All in all, "Till the End of Time" is an interesting drama, and Guy Madison's most notable vehicle.

The pop adaptation of Chopin's "Polanaise" played throughout doesn't hurt.

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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Guy all the way..., 29 May 2003
Author: notmicro from Seattle

I would make the case that Guy Madison may be the best-looking young man to ever star in a feature film, and this is his best one. There are moments where his totally unselfconscious looks are just jaw-dropping. His acting, on the other hand, can be described charitably as "natural"; but I wasn't expecting Lawrence Olivier. Guy was an early find of legendary Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who would later "discover" a tall young man whom he renamed Rock Hudson.

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12 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Good end of war drama, 5 November 2002

Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

Movingly enacted story of a G.I. (Madison, giving us all he's got) and his buddies in the tough times of adjusting to civilian life after WWII. McGuire has lost her husband in the war, and they find each other. Porter appears as a fiesty next-door neighbor with a crush on the freshly returned G.I. Nice fight scene at the finish, and Mitchum is, as usual, at his best under the direction of Dmytryck.

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10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Alternative interpretation, 18 February 2000

Author: D.S. Bertolotti (dbertolo@kettering.edu) from flint mi

Dorothy McGuire's performance (as Pat Ruscomb, war widow) is exceptionally good in this film. She is so convincing that viewers need focus on the effects of World War II on the war widows as much as the effects on returning servicemen. Despite her plight, she is the character that holds the film together when all else is chaos. One can only wonder how many women were left in like situations after the war. Where "The Best Years of Our Lives" adequately portrays the problems of readjustments of soldiers to civilian life, this film gives us a look at the sinister effect on those who remained on the home front. The scars on women, families, and homes do extend "till the end of time."

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