Customer Reviews

Journey for Margaret [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

JOURNEY FOR MARGARET is the 1940s WWII film that made you want to take to the streets and flog the isolationists. It does an especially credible job of filming the London Blitz of 1940, but has a message that, "The real damage is to England's families and children--not the buildings portrayed by rubble." I first saw this film as a teenager when it was released. We were tough, pool-hall guys and I sobbed. Loraine Day, as Robert Young's wife, stole my heart and I never forgave her for marrying Leo "The Lip" Durocher, manager of the then Brooklyn Dodgers. Young had his role of good American guy under contol; a role which could have been played for maudlin effect. Of the two children stars, little Margaret O'Brien has the upper hand in scene sense. Well cast, this little girl made Americans forget about Shirley Temple. Too bad they didn't entitle this film, "Little Miss Knickers." My wife and I saw this film again last night. I sobbed a tear or two just like in 1942. This film ought to be required viewing in every American history class from elementary, high school, and college.

Bad summary: A woman looses the ability to have children after being injured in a bombing in London, and her husband (a columnist) looses faith in his work. Through two orphaned children the man finds hope again, and the boy and girl eventually travel to America to stay with him and his wife. The end. :)

I don't even know the words to say, that would form the portrait in my mind this film has rendered to me. All I can say is that it has touched me in a manner that no special effects, no computer enhancing could ever bring. Films of today merely attempt to imitate the emotions involved in good story telling. It's films like this that prove... that stories such as this... can still transcend time to touch even those people who have not had to experience war, descending upon their own doorsteps, to alter the lives of their families.

Perhaps I dramatize it overly so, but that is how I felt as I watched.

I love the end of the movie when the children see the city lights of New York!

"A Journey for Margaret" is a "World War II film" unlike any other. It was filmed during the war, in 1941...before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The tale is told from the perspective of the youngest victims of the Blitz on London: the children who witnessed and survived the bombings.

"Journey"'s story concerns an American journalist (Robert Young) and his visits to a home for Blitz orphans. His concern for the children deepens as he is exposed to their strange and terrifying world. The youngsters in the orphanage sleep not in bedrooms but in underground bunkers, listening to the phonograph as warplanes roar overhead. They scream and cry when they see strangers. One girl, four year old Margaret (Margaret O'Brien) wears a bomb shell on a string around her neck. She has never seen a city with "the lights on at night," having grown up with blacked-out windows in London.

Young becomes attached to Margaret and her friend Peter, and endeavors, with his wife, to adopt them and take them to safety in America. However, the travel logistics make the "journey" much more difficult than anticipated, and the couple must contemplate leaving one child behind.

This film is a chilling commentary on the devastation of war and its effects on children. It is strong and brutally honest, and serves as a compelling argument for peace.

"A Journey for Margaret" is a "World War II film" unlike any other. It was filmed during the war, in 1941...before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The tale is told from the perspective of the youngest victims of the Blitz on London: the children who witnessed and survived the bombings.

"Journey"'s story concerns an American journalist (Robert Young) and his visits to a home for Blitz orphans. His concern for the children deepens as he is exposed to their strange and terrifying world. The youngsters in the orphanage sleep not in bedrooms but in underground bunkers, listening to the phonograph as warplanes roar overhead. They scream and cry when they see strangers. One girl, four year old Margaret (Margaret O'Brien) wears a bomb shell on a string around her neck. She has never seen a city with "the lights on at night," having grown up with blacked-out windows in London.

Young becomes attached to Margaret and her friend Peter, and endeavors, with his wife, to adopt them and take them to safety in America. However, the travel logistics make the "journey" much more difficult than anticipated, and the couple must contemplate leaving one child behind.

This film is a chilling commentary on the devastation of war and its effects on children. It is strong and brutally honest, and serves as a compelling argument for peace.

a five star tearjerker with excellent cast showing the effects of the london blitz on that city/s youngest citizens--robert young portraying an american who has also suffered from the blitz and how he bonds with two children in particular--starts out a little slow --but a good classic movie with a very young margaret obrien

I watched this movie years ago on Turner Classic Movies, bought it on vhs, and was thrilled to get it on DVD. The quality was great on my big screen TV, which says a lot for the restorers of this 68 year-old film. The movie itself will move you to tears, especially the part where little Margaret lets down her guard for the first time after enduring six foster mothers (and the last foster mom you will want to shake!) I have a 1942 Life magazine article with pictures of the real Margaret, plus a first edition of the original book written by her adoptive father, and these make the movie even more special for me to watch. I would highly recommend this movie for avid history buffs like myself. I even recommend it for older children who are studying WWII in school. It gives a very accurate depiction of life in London during the Blitz, but it is not so graphic that it turns the stomach, as some WWII movies can.

Journey for Margaret is a powerful story about the lives of civilians during World War II. It begins with a newspaperman named John Davis (Robert Young) and his wife Nora (Laraine Day). John does everything he can to protect his wife who is in delicate condition. She tries her hardest to be the perfect wife, cooking and cleaning and making the hallway where they sleep due to lack of housing as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately, the building is bombed, and even though Nora is saved, she is hurt so badly that she can no longer have children. She feels worthless and goes to America to put on a brave face. In the meantime, John goes to an orphanage to write a story about the children who have lost their parents due to the war. There he meets a sweet girl named Margaret (Margaret O'Brien) who refuses to take off her "bomb" from around her neck because she wants to be protected against the Germans the way her parents were not. He also meets Peter (William Severn), a boy he had helped to salvage from the rubble of the war. The children become very attached to Mr. Davis and follow him around constantly and fight over ownership of them. He falls in love with them and decides to try to adopt them both, but new rules due to war make that a difficult feat.

Young is very moving in this film, a man whose bravery, kindness, and selflessness seem extinct in the movies of today. Through these qualities, he is still imperfect, which makes him a believable and likable character. Day is very beautiful and makes a startling transition between the major events in the character's life. She adds a new dynamic to the film that is necessary for depicting the way the war changed people. The children really steal the show. O'Brien is beautiful and sweet as a little girl who is very much wise beyond her years. It is strange; in some scenes it seems that there is an adult inside the body of a little girl. It is hard to believe that she was so young herself when playing the part. Also due for hefty recognition is Severn, a beautiful little boy with a sophisticated English accent and a tendency to draw forth coos from women. He is heartbreaking at times, a part that deserves just as many accolades as O'Brien gets.

There are not too many child actors who have the talent to act and entertain. Margaret O'Brien was one of them. I liked the stories that dealt with the Second World War, and the information this movie gave the public about the English children during the war was informative and also entertaining. I am looking forward to purchase another film, "Lost Angel" with her and James Craig. Thank you for selling these black and white classic treasures to the public!!!!! A very happy customer.

I have always loved Margaret O'Brian & when this movie was shown on TV I missed the last hour & I really wanted to know what happened to the Margaret in the movie so I was very happy when I found out I could buy it. ... Thank you Amazon for having these wonderful old tapes for sale

I am happy that I can find old classic movies at a reasonable price through Amazon. I love this movie.