December 4: Since You Went Away (1944)
Thus starts one of the great films about the homefront during the war, Since You Went Away. Starring Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple as the women of the Hilton family as their husband and father has just left for training in the US Armed Forces. The movie follows the Hilton women through to Christmas. In many ways it is a better Christmas movie than some with an overt mention of the Holiday in the plot.
The movie is a look at American society and how Americans coped with so many men being away from home and in danger, and the family left to carry on their duties without them. Young men signing up or being drafted, points on a ration book, an Army base at the nearby airport, the housing shortage, a social scene with an overabundance of women, a soda shop with no chocolate availble, and government pamphlets helping with everything from how to rent a spare room to help to how to grow a victory garden are all covered (or at least referred to) in the story.
It was the days before cell phones--no, even before television! And everybody wanted to do their part. Shared purpose.
Young people and swing music.
Rubber drives
Tin drives
Paper drives
and diseases before there were vaccinations to prevent them.
This one deserves a place on your shelf. 5 stars
Reprinted from 2017