Since You Went Away DVD
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 Rating: - Epic-Length Home-Front WWII Soap Opera Has Colbert and Some Startling Camerawork
Two things still stand out in this elongated, patriotic 1944 soap opera produced in immaculate style by David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind, Rebecca) - the natural, self-effacing warmth of Claudette Colbert's portrayal of a WWII wife and mother holding down her home as her husband goes off to war, and the striking black-and-white cinematography by Lee Garmes and Stanley Cortez, who use a lot of deep focus and long shadows to accentuate the more dramatic moments. Look at the dance sequence in the airplane hangar or the departing train scene for clear evidence of their artistry. Otherwise, the film directed by John Cromwell is emblematic of its time as a morale booster to war-weary audiences looking for ways to cope with the eternal wait for the serving men. Based on a novel by Margaret Buell Wilder written in the form of a series of letters, Selznick took it upon himself to flesh out the story into a full-fledged screenplay with the intent of making an American version of the 1942 MGM classic, Mrs. Miniver complete with an overly effusive musical score by Max Steiner. While some jingoism is expected from a film of this era, it remains a poignant piece of Americana during a more innocent time - not as emotionally resonant as William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives but cut from the same dramatic cloth.

The simple story focuses on the Hilton family. Head of the household Tim (who is only seen in the movie in photos) has just left, and his wife Anne is trying to cope with the initial loneliness. Oldest daughter Jane is a boy-crazy high school senior, and fifteen-year-old Brig is the perky rabble-rouser-wannabe. Devoted to Tim with unconditional devotion, the three have an ideal relationship. Because they have to now survive only on his allotment checks, Anne has to let family maid Fidelia go, even though she comes back to work for them for free. Such situations obviously just happen in the movies. They take in a boarder, the easily irritable Colonel Smollett, and things get complicated when family friend Lt. Tony Willett shows up. Jane develops a crush on Tony, but her affections quickly transfer to Smollett's grandson Billy, a puppyish enlistee who is summarily ignored by his grandfather for getting ejected from West Point. The film starts to move into a quagmire of tear-jerking scenes at this point, and the last part introduces new situations and characters much too quickly - including a potentially interesting episode on Anne's job in a steel mill - before the film finally ends.

Colbert is wonderful as the patient Anne from start to finish. As Jane, Jennifer Jones tries too hard to be youthful at the beginning (she was 25) but settles down when her character falls in love with Billy and matures due to an unexpected tragedy. In a role virtually identical to the one he played in Vincente Minnelli's The Clock opposite Judy Garland, Robert Walker overdoes Billy's callowness to an off-putting degree. Regardless, I have to admit his scenes with Jones are touching, especially the famous goodbye scene at the train platform (satirized hilariously in Airplane!). Appearing about four years after the last of her child roles, Shirley Temple transitions nicely into adolescence as the spirited Brig. As the dashing Tony, Joseph Cotten is not particularly challenged here since he seems to be replaying Uncle Charlie from Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt with none of the darkness. The same can be said about Monty Woolley as Smollett, Hattie McDaniel as the comically inappropriate Fidelia (whose musical accompaniment sounds patronizingly like a cotton plantation spiritual), and even Agnes Moorehead playing Anne's narrow-minded society friend. Silent screen actress Nazimova shows up near the end as Anne's sanctimonious Russian émigré co-worker. The 2004 DVD unfortunately offers no extras.

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