Customer Reviews

Homecoming

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In case you don't understand that reference, Clark Gable's wife actress Carole Lombard died in a plane crash while she was promoting victory bonds for America's success in the crusade against the Nazis. Gable's grief led him to enlist in the airforce and fly dangerous bomb raids over Germany itself. He came back to Hollywood and resumed his career, but he was changed forever because of his experiences. Gone was the carefree youngish rogue he had been. In his place was a world-weary mature man who looked like he sought a peace he didn't really think he could find.

At first, MGM didn't understand this change in Gable, and that's why his first outing post war, "Adventure", is such an abysmal failure. That character is pre-Carole's death Gable; he could never be convincing as that again. "Homecoming", made a few years later, is closer to Gable's own life experience, and is therefore more appropriate. Here we encounter Gable as he is on a ship returning stateside after the war has ended in Europe. There's a poignant scene of him just sitting on the deck as he is lost in thought, remembering something that is painful for him. We learn as the story unfolds through flashbacks that he had a romantic involvement with a nurse, played by Lana Turner, and that she was killed in action. So that scene on the deck, that's not really acting for Gable, is it? He's thinking of his own wife's death and what potentialities died with her.

The plot of "Homecoming" concerns how Gable's character, a society doctor who enjoyed an insulated, high-society life and a somewhat superficial marriage to Anne Baxter, comes back determined to change his life. Will people understand why he's doing all this? What will happen to this pre-war marriage of his, can this wife adjust to the stranger who came home to her? That sort of thing. If there's a problem with the movie, it's that I think Anne Baxter was too young to play a wife of a number of years to Gable. She comes across as more naive than out of touch with him and what he's gone through. Any one of the other Metro actresses about ten years older than Anne would have been better. But, nobody's watching this movie for her anyway, so you could argue what does it matter. Personally, I think it was very brave of Clark Gable to make a movie that must have been very difficult for him to do. However, like the character he portrays here, Gable was able to find happiness again in love; he went on with his life and married again. So, "Homecoming" both looks back on the tragedy in Gable's life and looks ahead to the life-affirming lessons that were there for him and anyone else who has ever lost a loved one. View it yourself and see if you find that to be the case.

This classic WW2 tearjerker is not only a great war movie but is also one of the greatest screen romances of all time. Clark Gable ("Useless") and Lana Turner ("Snapshot") seem so natural together and as always make a wonderful couple. One of the things I like so much about this is the fact that Gable and Turner's relationship is slowly developed, making it much more believable than other screen romances from this period. Anne Baxter is great playing Gable's worried wife "left behind", and John Hodiak is awesome playing Gable's only close friend. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Hodiak and Baxter, because they were married in real life. They had first met and appeared on-screen together in the 1944 classic "Sunday Dinner for a Soldier", which has sadly not been released on dvd or vhs. Many view this as simply another adverage melodrama of the 1940s, but I think it's an underated classic that should've won several oscars. Gable and Turner both deserved oscars for their incredible performances. I hope it's not too long before this film is released on dvd.

For fans of Clark Gable and Lana Turner, this is one of the best movies for both. Gable plays a Surgeon called into WW11, and Turner an Army Nurse. Gable is married, but the interplay between them is well acted and serious. The ending is sad, but inevitable. Anne Baxter and John Hodiak are excellent in supporting roles.

I don't know about you, but I have noticed a definite change in the acting style of Clark Gable after he went off to War. Prior to his service, he was a fast talking, often humorous, center of attention. His later movies, with the notable exception of "The Misfits", seemed to portray a somber, pensive man; someone who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. It could be the script, it could be the directing, it probably had a lot to do with the death of Carole Lombard as well, but Gable just wasn't the same. He wasn't one of the guys and his romantic roles made him look antiseptic and distant. The reason I make note of this is that this style found a movie that suited it to a tee in "The Homecoming".

Gable plays a good doctor who means well but finds his personal life more important than his professional life. And he finds his well-to-do clients more appealling than those across the tracks. He volunteers for War, goes off with the right intentions while leaving a devoted wife (Ann Baxter) behind. He meets up with Lana Turner and falls in love. He also discovers a few things about duty and responsibility. In the end, he comes home a sadder but wiser man who realizes that his failures in the past don't have to repeat themselves in the future; a future he resignedly accepts that he'll have to face.

"The Homecoming" wasn't all that great of a movie. There was a fair amount of the plot that was properly left to our imagination. The acting was decent as was the direction but it's no accident that this movie doesn't pop up often on the late show. It is a good morality play and, thanks primarily to Gable, it works well. I realized, as the movie was coming to a close, that the very reason that most of his other Post-War movies were mediocre was the same reason that this was worked well. Gable looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders in the role of a man who was supposed to look like someone who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. I rate the movie a C and the casting an A.

You can get all of the Warner Archive Collection movies at TCM for $17.99, instead of the Amazon price of $28.98. Even with TCM's S&H it's a better deal.

The character played by the great Clark Gable in this picture changes substantially from a man with a narrow, selfish view of life to a man who begins to see the big-picture and that being involved in people's lives and helping others is what life is all about. A good story about a man who changes from mediocre to good through experiencing the war. Gable plays a manly kind of dignified character who really comes around. John Hodiak's character is very good as well. Very good picture.

This wartime romance directed by Mervyn LeRoy is a handsome MGM production that wears out its welcome by going on too long. What should have been a 90 minute sudser clocks in at about two hours. A self centered doctor (Clark Gable) seems to have it all. A successful and profitable practice, a beautiful wife (Anne Baxter) and home. When WWII comes and he goes to Italy as an army doctor, he slowly begins to realize the shallowness of his previous life especially when confronted by his feisty nurse (Lana Turner, deglamorized and very good). A tad sentimental in spots, it nevertheless makes some important points. John Hodiak, Gladys Cooper, Cameron Mitchell, and Marshall Thompson co-star. There's a lovely delicate score by Bronislau Kaper.

The Warners Archives MOD DVD is a good transfer in the appropriate 1.33 aspect ratio.

I saw this movie a long time ago and enjoyed watching it again. I feel that the story line is probably so close to what can happen in all wars. ther is plenty of Action as well as romance

I watched this movie on TCM the other evening and loved it. However, I will wait for the prices to reflect a better sale. I loved it, but not THAT much.

I have given a reaction to several DVD-R's already, and would have given this DVD 5 stars also if it had been subtitled. Why do Warner charge a much higher price for a DVD-R with no subtitles or other extras. I am willing to pay a reasonable price if only the DVD's would have subtitles. There are a lot of people having trouble following a movie if it is not subtitled. This way the company is earning a lot of money without giving what people might expect for such a price. Why not go on selling boxes with subtitles and some extras like before.

Ad de Koning, Almere, Holland