Since You Went Away (1944)

My Review

“Since You Went Away” is a drama film about an American family coping with life on the home front with absence of loved ones during World War II. Outstanding direction by John Cromwell from a script penned by David O. Selznick formed this complex epic war movie which was populated by a talented cast. It was adapted from “Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier From His Wife” by Margaret Buell Wilder, published in 1943.

Claudette Colbert was at the center of things as Mrs. Hilton, with Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple playing her daughters. Co-stars include Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Walker, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorehead, Keenan Wynn, Guy Madison, Craig Stevens, Monty Woolley, Nazimova, Albert Basserman, Dorothy Dandridge, Rhonda Fleming, Terry Moore, and Ruth Roman as a girl in the train station. “Since You Went Away” was the third highest grossing film of 1944 for producer David O. Selznick, Vanguard Films, and United Artists. It was received nine Oscar nods, winning one for Best Musical Score (Max Steiner).

The farewell scene between Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones at the railway station is a classic movie tearjerker scene, parodied in “Airplane!” (1981). In real life, the pair was married and going through a bitter divorce. Jones later married producer David O. Selznick.