Since You Went Away

Since You Went Away

Category: (DVD)

22 new, starting at $8.65

12 used, starting at $6.74

Buy Now

Editorial Reviews

Nominated* for nine Academy AwardsÂ(r), this heart-warming, soul-stirring (Variety) portrait of life on the homefront during World War II is a magnificent picture rich in humor and poignant with heartbreak (The Hollywood Reporter). Claudette Colbert heads an all-star cast,including Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten and Shirley Temple, in this beautifully produced picture that gets into your heart (Los Angeles Examiner). With her husband Tim off at war, Anne Hilton (Colbert) struggles to be a pillar of strength for her daughters Jane (Jones) and Bridget (Temple). During America's darkest hours, she bravely steers her girls through heartbreak and hardships as she eagerly awaits news from overseas and wonders if life will ever be the same. *1944: Best Picture, Actress (Colbert), Supporting Actor (Monty Woolley), Supporting Actress (Jones), Cinematography (B&W), Art Direction (B&W), Editing, Music Score (won), Special Effects

A three-hour weepy extraordinaire, this 1944 offering from producer David O. Selznick (who also wrote the screenplay) was a tribute to all the families who stayed behind while their men went off to fight in World War II. Claudette Colbert is the mother of daughters Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple; first seen coming home after dropping her war-bound husband at the train, she becomes the model of courage and strength on the homefront. The plot has a Saturday Evening Post feel today, as it follows the family's day-to-day life and struggles, whether with a crotchety boarder (a delightfully starchy Monty Woolley) or oldest daughter Jones's doomed romance with departing serviceman Robert Walker. They don't make them like this anymore and it's too bad. Nominated for a fistful of Oscars, it took only one, for its shadow-drenched black-and-white cinematography. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Old Movies

Reviewed by Erwin O. Vehs Jr., 2009-11-11

Most everything i order is for the wife so once again a winner with the wife!
Wonderful movie,very good condition,and so nice to get back to the past now and then!(so she says)
A movie any age could watch which is rare these days,so i guess you could say this one gets a gold star!

It never ceases!

Reviewed by Jay S. Hecht, 2009-10-28

A beautiful melodrama. A stellar cast.
Yes it is from a past genre of film makers But as long as there is war this film will endure
The story remains the same old or new

Sad War film

Reviewed by Richard Franks, 2009-06-02

Everybody does a great job in this black and white wartime film but it's just a very sad movie. If you like sad movies, this is your best bet.

A Long, Emotional Experience

Reviewed by Craig Connell, 2009-04-24

The cast is tremendous in here; lots of big names. That's the good news, at least for most male viewers, because the bad news- again, for us males - is that this is a woman's movie from start-to-finish. For you ladies, this movie is gold!

From the moment Claudette Colbert comes home after seeing her husband off for war, the tears start and the women's soap opera begins. It goes on and on, too, because this film is almost three hours long. That is a lot of time for a lot of heartaches. How many hankies is that? It has to be the whole Kleenex box!

I'm not making fun of it. The topic - women seeing their men off to war and never knowing if they'll come back alive - has been a tragic one since mankind began.

The cast in here was astonishing with people such as Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Guy Madison, Shirley Temple, Monty Whooley, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorhead, Craig Stevens, Keenan Wynn, Robert Walker and Lionel Barrymore.

I found no fault with any of them expect perhaps Temple, whose young-adult roles never matched her little girl performances, except for "The Bachelor and The Bobbysoxer."

It was interesting to see a young Stevens, who 15 years later starred in television's "Peter Gunn" series. It also was a bit odd seeing Jones and Walker together because they got divorced in 1944, the same year this movie was released. This must have been awkward for them to film since they obviously were not doing well in their real-life marriage.

This movie isn't all tears. There are some genuinely warm moments in here, including a very nice Christmas scene. People generations ago were more hopeful and optimistic, too. Today's world is much more cynical, so this film makes some critics unhappy because they think the people are too goody-goody. Well, too bad for them. For me, that's part of the charm of classic era movies: nicer attitudes.

The photography was pretty good, too. There are lots of lights-and-shadows. Is the too long and should it have been edited? Yes, but it's still an emotional experience for many viewers, even 65 years later.

DVD purchase

Reviewed by Richard E. Stubblebine, 2009-03-18

product received was as advertised, and in great condition. Would buy from this vendor again.