I watched this movie because I like Ann Sheridan in a good movie (she made some good ones, but also too many dull ones). This turned out to be a disappointment.
I can imagine that the issue of wives/girlfriends who cheated on their husbands/boyfriends while the latter were away at war was a major issue in the years immediately following World War II. But this movie doesn't do it justice.
First, the Hunters were only married a week or so, and had only known each other a few weeks, when the husband went off to war. That's not really much grounds for a real relationship - as their friend the lawyer points out to them. So it's hard to see Chris's infidelity as a real betrayal.
But why, then, in the friend's last speech, which brings the couple back together again - and is very reminiscent of the mother's speech (Lucille Watson) in *The Women* to her daughter (Norma Shearer) - does he justify saving the marriage by talking about all the wonderful things the couple had in common? If those are all things they have done together since the husband returned from war, the movie could have made a much better case for winning the audience's sympathies if it had used flashbacks to show us what a wonderful life together they had built. We see nothing of their former life at all.
Second, we never really see why the wife (Sheridan) allowed herself to become involved with another man during her husband's absence. We never have any sense that she struggled to resist at first. Her lines about being lonely at night sound very empty, when we see that she had friends and learn that she was involved in social activities. I can't imagine that women who did remain faithful to their men during the war had any sympathy for Sheridan's character at all.
Other characters turn out to be equally unsympathetic, such as the sculptor's wife, the woman whose husband cheated on her with Mrs. Hunter. In the same respect, the husband, Mr. Hunter, never earns our sympathies. We really have no emotional point of attachment.
Others have found things to like in this movie, but I found it difficult to stick with it, and never became involved in it.
I can imagine that the issue of wives/girlfriends who cheated on their husbands/boyfriends while the latter were away at war was a major issue in the years immediately following World War II. But this movie doesn't do it justice.
First, the Hunters were only married a week or so, and had only known each other a few weeks, when the husband went off to war. That's not really much grounds for a real relationship - as their friend the lawyer points out to them. So it's hard to see Chris's infidelity as a real betrayal.
But why, then, in the friend's last speech, which brings the couple back together again - and is very reminiscent of the mother's speech (Lucille Watson) in *The Women* to her daughter (Norma Shearer) - does he justify saving the marriage by talking about all the wonderful things the couple had in common? If those are all things they have done together since the husband returned from war, the movie could have made a much better case for winning the audience's sympathies if it had used flashbacks to show us what a wonderful life together they had built. We see nothing of their former life at all.
Second, we never really see why the wife (Sheridan) allowed herself to become involved with another man during her husband's absence. We never have any sense that she struggled to resist at first. Her lines about being lonely at night sound very empty, when we see that she had friends and learn that she was involved in social activities. I can't imagine that women who did remain faithful to their men during the war had any sympathy for Sheridan's character at all.
Other characters turn out to be equally unsympathetic, such as the sculptor's wife, the woman whose husband cheated on her with Mrs. Hunter. In the same respect, the husband, Mr. Hunter, never earns our sympathies. We really have no emotional point of attachment.
Others have found things to like in this movie, but I found it difficult to stick with it, and never became involved in it.