This is a really good post-war movie, showing the aftereffects of WWII on the veterans returning home and trying to readjust to their old lives. It follows 3 former servicemen.
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| Home, Fred and Al. |
Another (Homer) has lost both his hands, and is having difficulty coping with this adjustment and with the sympathy he gets from his family and friends (especially his fiancee, and he proceeds to try to push her away).
The third (Al) has a wife and 2 grown children to return to, as well as a promotion at the bank he worked for pre-war.
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| Peggy (Al's daughter) and Fred. |
Al, at first glance, seems to have the easiest adjustment, with a supportive family and a well paying job, but things have changed since he was gone. He has a hard time and takes to drinking. His son is a little bit of a smart ass, "educating" his father on the war based on what he's been learning in school. Al's response: "I've seen nothing, I should have stayed at home and found out what was really going on." His boss is uptight, getting annoyed when Al gives a loan to a veteran with no collateral based on his intuition. At a bank banquet later, he addresses his thoughts on this (simultaneously drunk and eloquent):
"I want to tell you all that the reason for my success as a Sergeant is due primarily to my previous training in the Cornbelt Loan and Trust Company. The knowledge I acquired in the good ol' bank I applied to my problems in the infantry. For instance, one day in Okinawa, a Major comes up to me and he says, "Stephenson, you see that hill?" "Yes sir, I see it." "All right," he said. "You and your platoon will attack said hill and take it." So I said to the Major, "but that operation involves considerable risk. We haven't sufficient collateral." "I'm aware of that," said the Major, "but the fact remains that there's the hill and you are the guys who are going to take it." So I said to him, "I'm sorry, Major... no collateral, no hill." So we didn't take the hill and we lost the war. I think that little story has considerable significance, but I've forgotten what it is. And now in conclusion, I'd like to tell you a humorous anecdote. I know several humorous anecdotes, but I can't think of any way to clean them up, so I'll only say this much. I love the Cornbelt Loan and Trust Company. There are some who say that the old bank is suffering from hardening of the arteries and of the heart. I refuse to listen to such radical talk. I say that our bank is alive, it's generous, it's human, and we're going to have such a line of customers seeking and GETTING small loans that people will think we're gambling with the depositors' money. And we will be. We will be gambling on the future of this country. I thank you."
Homer seems at first to manage very well with the hooks that he uses in place of his lost hands, but his injuries have left him considerably more broken than he lets on. It's heartbreaking when he finally confides in his fiancee, removes his hooks and says: "This is when I know I'm helpless. My hands are down there on the bed. I can't put them on again without calling to somebody for help. I can't smoke a cigarette or read a book. If that door should blow shut, I can't open it and get out of this room. I'm as dependent as a baby that doesn't know how to get anything except to cry for it. Well, now you know, Wilma. Now you have an idea of what it is." But Wilma sticks with him and refuses to be driven away, leading to one of the sweetest marriage ceremonies I've seen on film.
Sounds excellent. I need to watch it. m
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