This is kind of a lightweight comic version of "The Best Years of Our Lives." A soldier returns from World War II on a final two-week leave before getting out of the service. Visiting the New York department store where he used to work, he declares that he intends to go back to being a stock clerk and marry the girl he left behind in the stockroom. But things have changed: The girlfriend is now a store executive, and she's engaged to another man.
Sympathetic workers at the store devise an elaborate plan to fool the young vet for two weeks, making him believe things are just as he left them. They even talk the old girlfriend into playing along, but obviously their real hope is that love will be rekindled.
OK, give it credit for a cute premise. But as a comedy of mix-ups, this one doesn't work especially well. It's more likable than funny. (The most amusing character by far is the insecure new fiancé, but he's barely on screen.) Best enjoyed as a period piece.
It's interesting to see Donna Reed and Barbara Billingsley in a movie together, although Billingsley's role is very small. Who could have guessed that in just a few years, these two would be America's most beloved TV mothers? Nobody.
Sympathetic workers at the store devise an elaborate plan to fool the young vet for two weeks, making him believe things are just as he left them. They even talk the old girlfriend into playing along, but obviously their real hope is that love will be rekindled.
OK, give it credit for a cute premise. But as a comedy of mix-ups, this one doesn't work especially well. It's more likable than funny. (The most amusing character by far is the insecure new fiancé, but he's barely on screen.) Best enjoyed as a period piece.
It's interesting to see Donna Reed and Barbara Billingsley in a movie together, although Billingsley's role is very small. Who could have guessed that in just a few years, these two would be America's most beloved TV mothers? Nobody.