The Very Thought of You (1944)
Posted: May 12th, 2008, 6:08 pm
Do you like Homefront movies?
Eleanor Parker & Dennis Morgan in "The Very Thought of You" (1944).
Diverse movies such as Since You Went Away, Tender Comrade, Mr. Lucky, The Human Comedy, Sunday Dinner With a Soldier and the second movie directed by Delmer Daves, The Very Thought of You (1944) seemed to catch some of the feeling of wartime society stateside, usually by looking at one town, a family or a couple. The latter movie, which airs tomorrow, May 13th at 12:30 PM EDT does a decent job of creating a situation in which two GIs (Dennis Morgan & Dane Clark) find themselves at dinner with Eleanor Parker's pretty dysfunctional family (Henry Travers & Beulah Bondi play her bickering, sharp-tongued parents, Andrea King & John Alvin play some restless siblings & Faye Emerson rounds out the cast).
There's some nice tension, appealing actors & be prepared for some overflowing tear ducts (yours) in this one as the reality of separation & death intrude on the low key story, which is, of course, propaganda, but still has some appeal as a human story.
Eleanor Parker.
It may be a long way from Parker's sterling work in Caged (1950) & Detective Story (1951), but when working with writer-director Daves during this period of her career at Warners, she gave some hints of better things to come in this film as well as in the exceptional Pride of the Marines (1945) with John Garfield. I wouldn't call The Very Thought of You a must-see, but as a glimpse of the WWII period and an observation of a situation that is sadly eternal, it captures something worthwhile in some scenes. There's also good work by scenarists Alvah Bessie (& Delmer Daves) from a story by Lionel Wiggam. And then, of course, there is that haunting Ray Noble song, with the poignant melody that seems to hang in the air throughout the film thanks to Franz Waxman.
I guess all these elements make this romantic propaganda.
Eleanor Parker & Dennis Morgan in "The Very Thought of You" (1944).
Diverse movies such as Since You Went Away, Tender Comrade, Mr. Lucky, The Human Comedy, Sunday Dinner With a Soldier and the second movie directed by Delmer Daves, The Very Thought of You (1944) seemed to catch some of the feeling of wartime society stateside, usually by looking at one town, a family or a couple. The latter movie, which airs tomorrow, May 13th at 12:30 PM EDT does a decent job of creating a situation in which two GIs (Dennis Morgan & Dane Clark) find themselves at dinner with Eleanor Parker's pretty dysfunctional family (Henry Travers & Beulah Bondi play her bickering, sharp-tongued parents, Andrea King & John Alvin play some restless siblings & Faye Emerson rounds out the cast).
There's some nice tension, appealing actors & be prepared for some overflowing tear ducts (yours) in this one as the reality of separation & death intrude on the low key story, which is, of course, propaganda, but still has some appeal as a human story.
Eleanor Parker.
It may be a long way from Parker's sterling work in Caged (1950) & Detective Story (1951), but when working with writer-director Daves during this period of her career at Warners, she gave some hints of better things to come in this film as well as in the exceptional Pride of the Marines (1945) with John Garfield. I wouldn't call The Very Thought of You a must-see, but as a glimpse of the WWII period and an observation of a situation that is sadly eternal, it captures something worthwhile in some scenes. There's also good work by scenarists Alvah Bessie (& Delmer Daves) from a story by Lionel Wiggam. And then, of course, there is that haunting Ray Noble song, with the poignant melody that seems to hang in the air throughout the film thanks to Franz Waxman.
I guess all these elements make this romantic propaganda.