Purely Joyful Movie!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Well made post-WWII story about GI's coming home is thematiclaly very similar to "The Best Years of Our Lives" and suffers by comparison. Both films were released the same year and "Till the End of Time" is the inferior of the two, but it's a good film that deserves it's own recognition. The film is smartly directed by Edward Dmytryk ("The Caine Mutiny" "Crossfire") and based on a novel by Niven Busch (the screenwriter on "Persued" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice"), featuring a strong cast that includes Guy Madison and Robert Mitchum as soldiers returning from the war to find civilian life not as easy to adjust to as they'd expected. The main story involves Madison falling in love with war widow Dorothy McGuire. Comparing "Till the End of Time" to "The Best Years of Our Lives" is somewhat unfair since that film is an American film classic, but it's hard not to when they are so similar. Still, on it's own, "Till the End of Time" is a compelling melodrama set at a very specific time in history, with a story that remains relevant today.

Usual western cowboy, Guy Madison, tried something different when he made this 1946 film. Ironically, the best picture of that year, "The Best Years of Our Lives," also dealt with the problems faced by returning soldiers. Obviously, both films were timely.Madison, unfortunately, was miscast in the title lead. The way he called Dorothy McGuire a tramp sounded as if he were 14. Speaking of youth, the story line with the young girl next door infatuated with Madison was ludicrous at best. What were they trying to show, the years he had lost during the war serving his country, or that he was just a teenager at heart?Tom Tully went away from his usual tough guy image and played his understanding father. The always reliable Ruth Nelson, who was so good as Ellen Wilson, Woodrow's first wife, in the great 1944 film "Wilson," plays the endearing mother who showed how upset she was as time passes after Madison comes home from the war.The surprise here is the relative supporting role of Hollywood hunk Bob Mitchum in the film. Mitchum should have played the Madison role.The film has a resounding ending when bigotry is suddenly brought in by an American group referring to themselves as patriots.

The very same year as William Wyler ,Dmytryk gives his own version of 'the best years of our lives': there are similarities between the two works:both feature a disabled man ,although in Wyler's film ,Omer was a true handicapped man;both feature a fighting (remember Dana Andrews who is told he should have made war against the Reds).That said "till the end of time" is not in the same league:Guy Madison is handsome but a limited actor and he gets much more time on screen than the superior Robert Mitchum.There are good scenes now and then : -The soldier,living in anguish,suddenly starting trembling violently and the way Dorothy McGuire comforts him by telling him about her first ball.-The same woman ,revealing her husband was killed in action.-The hero meeting his parents in the night and realizing he does not understand them anymore and the opposite is true.In the field of "after- the- war- time",however,Dmytryk was more inspired in his film noir "cross-fire".

Some jerk movie reviewer says it was to much of a tear jerker. What does he or she know. I , being a Vietnam combat vet, remember seeing the movie some years ago on TV and thinking how much I related to the story line. I can't remember much about the movie except for the fact that the filmmaker was right on when it came to trying to readjust. It ain't easy. Lots of resentment and hostility. The story may have tugged at the heart but film making has got to deal with the emotional side of ones story as well as the artful aspects of making a film. The reviewer obviously has spent no time in combat so as a result the main theme of the story escapes him or her. FIGURES