Interesting historically — 15 weeks ago
“Since You Went Away” features many well-known actors in good performances, but as a film it is more interesting now as a historical piece of what life was like on the homefront, than as a film. Although I’m sure that it was a huge tearjerker when it was released, much of the plot was very predictable. Claudette Colbert is a wife whose husband has left for training, and she is left alone to raise her two daughters (Jennifer Jones and a teenage Shirley Temple). Faced with money difficulties, she has to let go of her maid (Hattie McDaniel) and take in a border. A repeat visit to the house is her former boyfriend, played by Joseph Cotten, whom the oldest daughter has a crush on (which adds an edge of creepiness to the vibe of the film). It reminded me a lot of a WWII-based “Little Women.” However, the story simply doesn’t induce a second watching.
