A newly married WREN, presumed drowned when her ship is torpedoed, spends three years on a tropical island before returning to England to find her husband remarried with a baby son.
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I love this movie so much
good back-story, and good acting
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
First can I say that I consider Mr Reids review to be spot on.I would add that the key to the mediocre production values is that it was made at Welwyn studios,a small studio run by ABPC,used when they had no space at ElstreeI believe that the legalities are fundamentally flawed.In any event this aspect cannot save what is a dull stilted melodrama,which is deservedly forgotten.
Producer: Herbert Wilcox. An Associated British Film. Released but not copyrighted in the U.S.A. by M-G-M, January 1949. New York opening at the Elysee: 4 August 1948. (The New York critics were savage). U.K. release through Associated British-Pathé: September 1946. Australian release through British Empire Films: 12 June 1947. 9,528 feet. 106 minutes. The full-length version was released only in Australia. Cut to 102 minutes in the U.K., 88 minutes in the U.S.A. (Voted Best Film of 1946 in the Daily Mail annual poll). Alternative U.S. title: THEY MET AT MIDNIGHT. SYNOPSIS: Separated, believed dead, from her husband, the faithful wife returns home after a few years to find her beloved not only remarried but also a father. NOTES: The film easily overcame extremely negative reviews ("Slow, heavy-footed and overlong," even from kind-hearted F. Maurice Speed, noted for his tendency to bend over backwards to say something nice about even the most boring and inconsequential releases of the year), to bounce in at number three at the British box-office for 1946. Number three, mind you! Unbelievable!COMMENT: I am reviewing the full-length version! A British remake of Garson Kanin's "My Favorite Wife" (1940) only this time treated as a drama rather than a comedy and with much more footage on the preliminaries (so much so that the film ends thirty minutes after "My Favorite Wife" begins) and the desert island episode. As a result, the film seems more akin to a dramatic re-make of J.M. Barrie's "Admirable Crichton" or an equally somber dramatic precursor to Noel Langley's "Our Girl Friday".True, Herbert Wilcox's plodding direction is more suited to drama than comedy, but the pace is so slow here that it will bore all but Miss Neagle's most fervent fans to tears. In Wilcox's hands, the plot (when finally we come to it) seems impossibly contrived and silly. Though Miss Neagle battles on gamely, it is as difficult to believe in her characterization as in the impossible Michael Wilding or the even more incredible Michael Laurence (he gives it a good try but a part like that would nip even an Olivier's career in the bud).The support characters have nothing to recommend them either, though with true British pluck, people like A.E. Matthews give them a whirl.The lighting photography is also not all that might be desired — sometimes it is flattering to the players, sometimes it is not. Sometimes it lights the sets effectively, at other times the light falls in such a way as to pinpoint phony backdrops.To make matters worse the film ends with a "message", though due to its funereal pace it is unlikely many viewers will last the distance.Production values are not over-extensive and though some well-known songs are used in the score, they are presented in a most perfunctory and undistinguished manner, with the exception of a long-drawn-out boogie version of Beethoven which, despite the initial promise of its choreography, soon out-stays its welcome.
I first saw this wonderful little film at 16 years of age and have never forgotten it.Michael Wilding and Anna Neagle ( in particular) carry the film with an English understated romance atypically bubbling under the surface - although Neagle's warmth is palpable. It is a curious but clever mix of war, romance, adventure and ethics.I think the stand-out and almost jolting point for me was the judiciary's comment - at the end - alluding to the fact that the child (of the second wife) would always be illegitimate.They don't make them like this anymore.
Diana (Anna Neagle) and Alan (Michael Wilding) are thrown together into a whirlwind romance after a chance encounter in Piccadilly. They marry before Diana is posted overseas where her ship is torpedoed and all are presumed dead. Alan comes to term with his loss before marrying again and producing a son. However, Diana is one of a few survivors and is living on an uninhabited island. What will happen when she returns home? This is a wartime romance which is quite good. One criticism, though - why on earth have two of the main female leads - Anna Neagle and Brenda Bruce (who plays Sally Benton) - look exactly the same as each other? Neagle performs a curious dance at the beginning of the film, a mish-mash of God knows what. I think it's better suited to a horror-film dream sequence. Anyhow, the film involves you on an emotional level and brings up difficult issues. You may have a cry or two. Roger Moore has an uncredited role according to the credits, but I guarantee that you wont see him. If you want a tragic, wartime romance story, then this film fits the bill.