Homecoming (1948)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Sidney Kingsley (story)
Jan Lustig (adaptation)

Release Date:

May 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

Self-absorbed Dr. Lee Johnson enlists with the Army medical corps during World War II, more out of a...

Plot Keywords:

Army | Male Female Relationship | Doctor | Beautiful Woman | WWII

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Col. Ulysses Delby 'Lee' Johnson (Dr. Johnson)
Lana Turner	...	Lt. Jane 'Snapshot' McCall
Anne Baxter	...	Mrs. Penny Johnson
John Hodiak	...	Dr. Robert Sunday
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Col. Avery Silver
Gladys Cooper	...	Mrs. Kirby
Cameron Mitchell	...	'Monk' Monkevickz
Marshall Thompson	...	Staff Sgt. 'Mac' McKeen
Lurene Tuttle	...	Miss Stoker
Jessica Grayson	...	Sarah, Johnson's Maid (as Jessie Grayson)
J. Louis Johnson	...	Sol, Johnson's Butler
Eloise Hardt	...	Nurse Eloise

Also Known As:

The Homecoming of Ulysses (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During surgery, only one of the nurses (or doctor) has her mask up over her nose (to minimize the chance of any of the patients catching an airborne infection from the medical personnel).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir (2001) (TV)

Despite being a bit syrupy at times, I was surprised that I liked the movie as much as I did

This is a far from perfect film featuring Gable and Turner, but upon seeing it for the second time, it sure seemed a lot better than I remembered it. In particular, I appreciated that the film took a pretty big risk dealing with wartime romance between a married doctor and a nurse when they are stationed overseas. This sort of situation MUST have happened quite a bit with all those nurses and WACS/WAVS, etc. serving in action, though it is hardly ever mentioned in any film up until that time. Plus, it offered a very unusual situation where a man is in love with a woman he is not married to and yet he still loves his wife at home. Pretty adult fare for 1948, I must say! The film begins with Gable a rich and successful doctor in the States. He is very isolated from the real world and his main focus in on the country club and his pampered wife--unconcerned about much else. When the war comes, he does serve but seems to be pretty selfish. His head nurse in the field hospital is a much more giving and selfless individual and they are destined to hate each other because they are so different AND because this IS Lana Turner and Clark Gable (this plot device is necessary before they actually fall in love--a bit of a cliché, I know).

Gable and Turner are both excellent as the leads and their scenes together are excellent as well. I especially appreciated Lana's emotional range--it was better and more vulnerable here than I am used to seeing. The direction was pretty good and all the MGM production values were going full speed ahead! I especially appreciated the snow scene--you KNOW it was done in a sound stage and yet it STILL looked exceptional (though their breath didn't show--considering it was probably close to 70 degrees).

Overall, this is a must-see for Gable fans and a pretty good flick for anyone but people who MUST have a lot of action in their films. Despite being WWII, the film is pretty talking and there is quite a bit of romance--something action junkies will probably have a hard time accepting.