Simply A Masterpiece

Fantastic!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I'm not sure if I classify this as a romance or a war film, but to be more accurate, it is a complete three dimensional theatrical dramatization.The stars abound here. The four in the forefront are the extremes in the handsome and beautiful. We see Gable in a fascinating performance, but to be honest, all give fascinating performances. We have Perry Mason's judge, Ray Collins in a fifth role, not just as a senior or mentor, but as a very deep character himself. Cameron Mitchell, I didn't even recognize him as the doomed soldier, which is what any actor loves to hear, that he was so effective, you didn't know it was him.Gable is a doctor. So is Hodiak. Hodiak is himself a hidden gem. He often played the ultra handsome "everyman", like he does here. He was the ultimate "everyman" in the grand daddy of switch ending films, AMBUSH AT TOMAHAWK GAP. Here, he is a very dedicated doctor at odds with Gable.Through out the film, we keep hoping for what looks to be the obvious pitch. Will the couples switch to happier mates? Bancroft with Hodiak and Turner with Gable? As it moves along, we see this to be more and more unlikely, and we are drawn into the charisma of "Useless" and "Snapshot".To say more would be a spoiler. Just be prepared for surprises in this hidden gem.

HOMECOMING was an enormously popular MGM hit when released because Gable and Turner gave it tremendous box-office power. But the majority of the reviews were pretty scathing. Yet, the public ran eagerly to see it.I tend to agree with the critics on this one. "Nothing more than a cheap, synthetic chunk of romance designed to exploit two gaudy stars," said Bosley Crowther in The N.Y. Times. "Pretends to be serious about serious things--war and medicine in particular." But my favorite comment came from another critic of a lesser paper who wrote: "Since they are two glamorous people, theirs is a glamorous war--in battle, in bombings, in death, there is no real agony, or ugliness or heartache. Even the mud in HOMECOMING looks slick and unreal, like it passed an MGM screen test." My reaction was pretty similar. I see this kind of romantic war movie as a chance to get CLARK GABLE and LANA TURNER in a heavy-handed chance at dramatics that supposedly pulls the heart strings while the good little wife ANNE BAXTER stays behind on the homefront worrying that her husband will have changed too much for their marriage to stay intact.Turner actually does do a fine job in her death scene, but the whole story just seems like a contrivance to give two very popular studio stars the chance to romance against a background of World War II, as they did a few years earlier in SOMEWHERE I'LL FIND YOU.No matter. Of course Lana's fans are going to see her in anything--ditto for Gable--and they were certainly the target audience for this kind of pulp romance.

As a rule I'm not much into romantic films, but there are exceptions and Homecoming is one of them. Clark Gable and Lana Turner did four films together and this is the third one. It's Turner's show here. It's a great tribute to her charisma and star quality that she looks incredibly sexy in those army fatigues she has to wear as per the plot. Lana Turner in heryounger days had a quality of winsomeness that was never showcased than when she plays Jane "Snapshot" McCall, idealistic army nurse.In this cynical age we would look with incredulity that a widow with a young son would follow her late husband off to war because his ideals became her ideals. Yet Turner makes you believe that in this film.The plot is simply Clark Gable, very successful doctor in a small mid-west city, goes to World War II basically because its expected of him. He's a self centered guy, nice home, loving wife played very well by Anne Baxter, all the material things you could want and not a clue about why we are in World War II. He has a fellow physician friend, John Hodiak who does a lot of pro bono public service work who tries to act as a conscience, but fails. I guess Turner had something to offer Hodiak didn't. At first Dr. Ulysses Johnson (Gable) and Nurse McCall don't hit it off after she's assigned to him as a nurse. But her beauty and idealism get to him he falls for her big time. Because its 1948 Hollywood and Anne Baxter is by no means a bad person there was no way Turner was going to wind up with Gable in the end. She has to die, but Turner is given a death scene that is one of the most moving in the history of film. You have to be made of stone not to be touched by her and Gable at her bedside.John Hodiak, a very talented and almost forgotten figure today is also terrific as Gable's friend Dr. Robert Sunday. Gable will be working with Hodiak at the clinic Hodiak has in a poor neighborhood and he will be doing it because of the social conscience Turner has instilled in him. There are no bad people in this film except the Nazis shooting at Gable Turner and the rest of Eisenhower's army.I believe this is Lana Turner's best film and fans of her's should not miss this one.

This is a very enjoyable piece of film making. Lana Turner and Clark Gable work well together in this likeable World War 2 light drama. A must for both Lana and Clark fans. Not a brilliant piece but again enjoyable.