Philly guy Al Schmid boards with his friends, the Merchant family. One night, Ruth Hartley arrives looking for co-worker Ella Mae Merchant. The two singles have been surreptitiously set up. Al is taken with her right away and keeps pestering her. The couple eventually plans to marry. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Al joins the Marines. He gives her a ring as he departs for the front. He is blinded in the battle of Guadalcanal. He pushes Ruth away as he is unable to regain his eyesight.
There is a section in the middle after the battle where this movie drags a bit. By that point, the audience is waiting for Ruth to meet up with Al once again and that takes a bit too long. The ride home is one of the most compelling section in the entire movie. That moment reminds me of Love Affair and other great romances of the era. Released at the end of the war, this must have hit close to home for many people and that home coming would have been hugely emotionally for everybody. It would remind them of all the losses and give hope for the future. This is a melodrama for its time.
There is a section in the middle after the battle where this movie drags a bit. By that point, the audience is waiting for Ruth to meet up with Al once again and that takes a bit too long. The ride home is one of the most compelling section in the entire movie. That moment reminds me of Love Affair and other great romances of the era. Released at the end of the war, this must have hit close to home for many people and that home coming would have been hugely emotionally for everybody. It would remind them of all the losses and give hope for the future. This is a melodrama for its time.