Post by kijii on Oct 14, 2018 18:52:23 GMT
CLARENCE BROWN'S WARTIME MOVIES - A Saga and a Montage
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) / Clarence Brown
Viewed from a DVR'd broadcast on TCM
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) / Clarence Brown
Viewed from a DVR'd broadcast on TCM
I have loved England, dearly and deeply,
Since that first morning, shining and pure,
The white cliffs of Dover I saw rising steeply
Out of the sea that once made her secure.
I had no thought then of husband or lover,
I was a traveller, the guest of a week;
Yet when they pointed 'the white cliffs of Dover',
Startled I found there were tears on my cheek.
I have loved England, and still as a stranger,
Here is my home and I still am alone.
Now in her hour of trial and danger,
Only the English are really her own.
Thus, begins Alice Duer Miller's very long poem about her love of all things English. Thus, begins the multi-generational story of a young American woman, Susan Dunn (Irene Dunn), visiting England with her father, Hiram Porter Dunn (Frank Morgan), on the eve of WWI.
After landing in England, Susan and Hiram board with the Lady Jean Ashwood (Gladys Cooper), her family where her family and friends reside. While Hiram is something of an cute American curmudgeon, set in his ways. The Ashwoods finally get him to play chess with his English counterpart, Colonel Walter Forsythe (C. Aubrey Smith). As they play chess, the two old men get into an argument about which country developed a particular chess move, which in turn, leads to a discussion about where Forsythe's chess set came from (the British had taken it from the White House during the War of 1812 before burning down Washington, D.C.---The chess game ends with a mild argument, with each man continuing to holding his own point of view about their respective countries.
However, Susan it thrilled by the possibility of attending a ball when the aristocratic Forsythe invites her to be his guest and meet the king and queen of England as well as some of the English nobility:
After landing in England, Susan and Hiram board with the Lady Jean Ashwood (Gladys Cooper), her family where her family and friends reside. While Hiram is something of an cute American curmudgeon, set in his ways. The Ashwoods finally get him to play chess with his English counterpart, Colonel Walter Forsythe (C. Aubrey Smith). As they play chess, the two old men get into an argument about which country developed a particular chess move, which in turn, leads to a discussion about where Forsythe's chess set came from (the British had taken it from the White House during the War of 1812 before burning down Washington, D.C.---The chess game ends with a mild argument, with each man continuing to holding his own point of view about their respective countries.
However, Susan it thrilled by the possibility of attending a ball when the aristocratic Forsythe invites her to be his guest and meet the king and queen of England as well as some of the English nobility:
It happened the first evening I was there.
Some one was giving a ball in Belgrave Square.
At Belgrave Square, that most Victorian spot.—
Lives there a novel-reader who has not
At some time wept for those delightful girls,
Daughters of dukes, prime ministers and earls,
In bonnets, berthas, bustles, buttoned basques,
Hiding behind their pure Victorian masks
Hearts just as hot - hotter perhaps than those
Whose owners now abandon hats and hose?
Who has not wept for Lady Joan or Jill
Loving against her noble parent's will
A handsome guardsman, who to her alarm
Feels her hand kissed behind a potted palm
At Lady Ivry's ball the dreadful night
Before his regiment goes off to fight;
And see him the next morning, in the park,
Complete in busbee, marching to embark.
I had read freely, even as a child,
Not only Meredith and Oscar Wilde
But many novels of an earlier day—
Ravenshoe, Can You Forgive Her?, Vivien Grey,
Ouida, The Duchess, Broughton's Red As a Rose,
Guy Livingstone, Whyte-Melville— Heaven knows
What others. Now, I thought, I was to see
Their habitat, though like the Miller of Dee,
I cared for none and no one cared for me.
While at the ball, she meets and dances with a young English nobleman, Sir John Ashwood (Alan Marshal), son of Lady Jean Ashwood. They start to fall in love as he shows her all of the English places that she has heard of and fell in love with from afar.
While at the ball, she meets and dances with a young English nobleman, Sir John Ashwood (Alan Marshal), son of Lady Jean Ashwood. They start to fall in love as he shows her all of the English places that she has heard of and fell in love with from afar.
John had one of those English faces
That always were and will always be
Found in the cream of English places
Till England herself sink into the sea—
A blond, bowed face with prominent eyes
A little bit bluer than English skies.
You see it in ruffs and suits of armour,
You see it in wigs of many styles,
Soldier and sailor, judge and farmer—
That face has governed the British Isles,
By the power, for good or ill bestowed,
Only on those who live by code.
Oh, that inflexible code of living,
That seems so easy and unconstrained,
The Englishman's code of taking and giving
Rights and privileges pre-ordained,
Based since English life began
On the prime importance of being a man.
Why do we fall in love? I do believe
That virtue is the magnet, the small vein
Of ore, the spark, the torch that we receive
At birth, and that we render back again.
That drop of godhood, like a precious stone,
May shine the brightest in the tiniest flake.
Lavished on saints, to sinners not unknown;
In harlot, nun, philanthropist, and rake,
It shines for those who love; none else discern
Evil from good; Men's fall did not bestow
That threatened wisdom; blindly still we yearn
After a virtue that we do not know,
Until our thirst and longing rise above
The barriers of reason—and we love.
Why do we fall in love? I do believe
That virtue is the magnet, the small vein
Of ore, the spark, the torch that we receive
At birth, and that we render back again.
That drop of godhood, like a precious stone,
May shine the brightest in the tiniest flake.
Lavished on saints, to sinners not unknown;
In harlot, nun, philanthropist, and rake,
It shines for those who love; none else discern
Evil from good; Men's fall did not bestow
That threatened wisdom; blindly still we yearn
After a virtue that we do not know,
Until our thirst and longing rise above
The barriers of reason—and we love.
John and Susan are married, she becomes part of the Ashwood family, and her father, returns to his newspaper in the smallest state in America, though there is no such town as Toliver, Rhode Island (except in this poem). When WWI breaks out, John, as expected, joins the Royal army to fight the Huns.
Johnnie and I were married. England then
Had been a week at war, and all the men
Wore uniform, as English people can,
Unconscious of it. Percy, the best man,
As thin as paper and as smart as paint,
Bade us good-by with admirable restraint,
Went from the church to catch his train to hell;
And died-saving his batman from a shell.
We went down to Devon,
In a warm summer rain,
Knowing that our happiness
Might never come again;
I, not forgetting,
'Till death us do part,'
Was outrageously happy
With death in my heart.
Lovers in peacetime
With fifty years to live,
Have time to tease and quarrel
And question what to give;
But lovers in wartime
Better understand
The fullness of living,
With death close at hand.
With the men away at war, Susan gets to know her mother-in-law:
With the men away at war, Susan gets to know her mother-in-law:
I settled down in Devon,
When Johnnie went to France.
Such a tame ending
To a great romance—
Two lonely women
With nothing much to do
But get to know each other;
She did and I did, too.
Mornings at the rectory
Learning how to roll
Bandages, and always
Saving light and coal.
Oh, that house was bitter
As winter closed in,
In spite of heavy stockings
And woollen next the skin.
I was cold and wretched,
And never unaware
Of John more cold and wretched
In a trench out there.
Eventually, John and Susan have a son:
Out of the dark, and dearth
Of happiness on earth,
Out of a world inured to death and pain;
On a fair spring mom
To me a son was born,
And hope was born-the future lived again.
To me a son was born,
The lonely hard forlorn
Travail was, as the Bible tells, forgot.
How old, how commonplace
To look upon the face
Of your first-born, and glory in your lot.
What what will Susan and John name their son (played in the movie by young Roddy McDowall)?
'I want him called John after you, or if not that I'd rather—'
'But the eldest son is always called Percy, dear.'
'I don't ask to call him Hiram, after my father—'
'But the eldest son is always called Percy, dear.'
'But I hate the name Percy. I like Richard or Ronald,
Or Peter like your brother, or Ian or Noel or Donald—'
'But the eldest is always called Percy, dear.'
So the Vicar christened him Percy; and Lady Jean (Gladys Cooper)
Gave to the child and me the empty place
In hr heart. Poor Lady, it was as if she had seen
The world destroyed— the extinction of her race,
Her country, her class, her name— and now she saw
Them live again. And I would hear her say:
'No. I admire Americans; my daughter-in-law
Was an American.' Thus she would well repay
The debt, and I was grateful— the English made
Life hard for those who did not come to her aid.
They must come in in the spring.'
'Don't they care sixpence who's right?'
'What a ridiculous thing—
Saying they're too proud to fight.'
'Saying they're too proud to fight.'
'Wilson's pro-German, I'm told.'
'No, it's financial.' 'Oh, quite,
All that they care for is gold.'
'All that they care for is gold.'
'Seem to like writing a note.'
'Yes, as a penman, he's bold.'
'No. It's the Irish vote.'
'Oh, it's the Irish vote.'
'What if the Germans some night
Sink an American boat?'
'Darling, they're too proud to fight.'
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:
They must come in in the spring.'
'Don't they care sixpence who's right?'
'What a ridiculous thing—
Saying they're too proud to fight.'
'Saying they're too proud to fight.'
'Wilson's pro-German, I'm told.'
'No, it's financial.' 'Oh, quite,
All that they care for is gold.'
'All that they care for is gold.'
'Seem to like writing a note.'
'Yes, as a penman, he's bold.'
'No. It's the Irish vote.'
'Oh, it's the Irish vote.'
'What if the Germans some night
Sink an American boat?'
'Darling, they're too proud to fight.'
But, finally the Americans do enter the war to everyone's delight:
And at last—at last—like the dawn of a calm, fair day
After a night of terror and storm, they came—
My young light-hearted countrymen, tall and gay,
Looking the world over in search of fun and fame,
Marching through London to the beat of a boastful air,
Seeing for the first time Piccadilly and Leicester Square,
All the bands playing: 'Over There, Over There,
Send the word, send the word to beware—'
And as the American flag went fluttering by
Englishmen uncovered, and I began to cry.
The Human Comedy (1943) / Clarence BrownThen comes the news that John had died in action right before the armistice is signed:
Bad news is not broken,
By kind tactful word;
The message is spoken
Ere the word can be heard.
The eye and the bearing,
The breath make it clear,
And the heart is despairing
Before the ears hear.
I do not remember
The words that they said:
'Killed—Douai—November—'
I knew John was dead.
All done and over—
That day long ago—
The while cliffs of Dover—
Little did I know.
Nanny (May Whitty) helps raise John Ashwood II as a Boy:
Nanny brought up my son, as his father before him,
Austere on questions of habits, manners, and food.
Nobly yielding a mother's right to adore him,
Thinking that mothers never did sons much good.
Thinking that mothers never did sons much good.
After some time, Susan's father (Frank Morgan) comes to England to visit his grandson:
My father came over now and then
To look at the boy and talk to me,
Never staying long,
For the urge was strong
To get back to his yawl and the summer sea.
He came like a nomad passing by,
Hands in his pockets, hat over one eye,
Teasing every one great and small
With a blank straight face and a Yankee drawl;
Teasing the Vicar on Apostolic Succession
And what the Thirty-Nine Articles really meant to convey,
Teasing Nanny, though he did not
Make much impression
On that imperturbable Scot.
Teasing our local grandee, a noble peer,
Who firmly believed the Ten Lost Tribes
Of Israel had settled here—
A theory my father had at his fingers' ends—
Only one person was always safe from his jibes—
My mother-in-law, for they were really friends.
Susan reflects upon her home in America and compares it with her home in England:
Was this America—this my home?
Prohibition and Teapot Dome—
Speakeasies, night-clubs, illicit stills,
Dark faces peering behind dark grills,
Hold-ups, kidnappings, hootch or booze—
Every one gambling—you just can't lose,
Was this my country? Even the bay
At home was altered, strange ships lay
At anchor, deserted day after day,
Old yachts in a rusty dim decay—
Like ladies going the primrose way—
At anchor, until when the moon was black,
They sailed, and often never came back.
After John II (Peter Lawford) grows up to fight in WWII........
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:
As she prepares for an influx of wounded soldiers at a London military hospital, American-born Red Cross volunteer Lady Susan Ashwood worries about her son John, who is fighting overseas, and fondly recalls her arrival in England many years before: In April 1914, Susan and her father, Hiram Porter Dunn, a small-town newspaper publisher from Rhode Island, arrive in London for a two-week vacation. Hiram detests everything English, especially the rainy weather, which quickly aggravates his lumbago and keeps him in his boardinghouse bed. On their last day in London, Col. Walter Forsythe, an elderly boardinghouse resident, invites Susan to accompany him to a ball hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Waverly, and she eagerly accepts. At the ball, the colonel tricks young Sir John Ashwood into dancing with Susan by leading him to believe she is his friend's Australian cousin, whom John has been asked to entertain. John is immediately taken with the down-to-earth Susan and spends a long, romantic evening with her. Just before parting, John begs Susan to stay in England, but she tearfully insists that she has to leave with her father. The next morning, however, John shows up at the boardinghouse and announces that his mother, Lady Jean, has invited both Susan and Hiram to their country manor. After much cajoling, Hiram finally gives Susan permission to stay in England without him, and she is whisked away to the country.
Although they give Susan a warm welcome, John's family, including his brother Reggie, is unsure about her relationship with John and one night invite his childhood sweetheart, Helen Hampton, who is still in love with him, to dinner. John, however, is sure about his feelings for Susan and proposes, but she is too stunned to give an immediate answer. Susan then receives a telegram from her father, pleading with her to come home, and when John's family makes seemingly anti-American comments in front of her, she explodes in anger. Although Lady Jean apologizes and assures her that the English are reserved by nature, Susan prepares to sail home, convinced that she is too "American" for John. As she is about to board the ship, however, John appears and talks her into marrying him. In the midst of their honeymoon, war breaks out, and John, who, following family tradition as an Army officer, is sent off to fight.
After three years of separation, Susan and Lady Jean learn that the government has arranged for soldiers' wives to be reunited with their husbands for a brief leave in France. Their joy is shortlived, however, when a telegram announcing Reggie's death in battle also arrives. At an elegant resort in coastal France, Susan and the war-weary John relish every moment of their reunion. A year later, Susan, who now lives in London, watches hopefully with her newborn son, John Ashwood II, as American troops march through the streets. Just before peace is declared, however, John is killed in action, and Susan is devastated. Lady Jean finally brings Susan out of her embittered grief by impressing on her that John sacrificed his life in order to assure his son a peaceful future.
Many years later, Susan and Hiram, who now lives at the Ashwood manor, become concerned when they hear German acquaintances of young John predicting that Germany will soon "finish" the business of the previous war. Sure that another war is coming, Hiram convinces Susan to return to America with John, but while they are on the train to the coast, John, who takes seriously his duties as master of the manor, persuades her to stay in England, his home. When war finally breaks out, both John and his childhood sweetheart, farmer's daughter Betsy Kenney, go to the front. Back at the hospital, Susan's reveries are interrupted by the arrival of the wounded soldiers. As she had feared, John is among the injured and has only a few hours to live. When she sees American troops outside, marching side by side with English soldiers, however, she assures John that his sacrifice, like that of his father, will not be in vain.
Although they give Susan a warm welcome, John's family, including his brother Reggie, is unsure about her relationship with John and one night invite his childhood sweetheart, Helen Hampton, who is still in love with him, to dinner. John, however, is sure about his feelings for Susan and proposes, but she is too stunned to give an immediate answer. Susan then receives a telegram from her father, pleading with her to come home, and when John's family makes seemingly anti-American comments in front of her, she explodes in anger. Although Lady Jean apologizes and assures her that the English are reserved by nature, Susan prepares to sail home, convinced that she is too "American" for John. As she is about to board the ship, however, John appears and talks her into marrying him. In the midst of their honeymoon, war breaks out, and John, who, following family tradition as an Army officer, is sent off to fight.
After three years of separation, Susan and Lady Jean learn that the government has arranged for soldiers' wives to be reunited with their husbands for a brief leave in France. Their joy is shortlived, however, when a telegram announcing Reggie's death in battle also arrives. At an elegant resort in coastal France, Susan and the war-weary John relish every moment of their reunion. A year later, Susan, who now lives in London, watches hopefully with her newborn son, John Ashwood II, as American troops march through the streets. Just before peace is declared, however, John is killed in action, and Susan is devastated. Lady Jean finally brings Susan out of her embittered grief by impressing on her that John sacrificed his life in order to assure his son a peaceful future.
Many years later, Susan and Hiram, who now lives at the Ashwood manor, become concerned when they hear German acquaintances of young John predicting that Germany will soon "finish" the business of the previous war. Sure that another war is coming, Hiram convinces Susan to return to America with John, but while they are on the train to the coast, John, who takes seriously his duties as master of the manor, persuades her to stay in England, his home. When war finally breaks out, both John and his childhood sweetheart, farmer's daughter Betsy Kenney, go to the front. Back at the hospital, Susan's reveries are interrupted by the arrival of the wounded soldiers. As she had feared, John is among the injured and has only a few hours to live. When she sees American troops outside, marching side by side with English soldiers, however, she assures John that his sacrifice, like that of his father, will not be in vain.
This 1944 wartime movie is a classic, much as Clarence Brown's The Human Comedy (1943) had been a year earlier.
Both show the wartime as a series of images with a clear-cut message. Yes, they are sentimental, but I still think that they are both masterpieces in the way they deliver their messages about the people on the home fronts of wars.
In the case of The White Cliffs of Dover, the message derives from Alice Duer Miller's poem about a women with two counties.
In the case of The Human Comedy, the message derives from William Saroyan's Valentine to America.
Both show the wartime as a series of images with a clear-cut message. Yes, they are sentimental, but I still think that they are both masterpieces in the way they deliver their messages about the people on the home fronts of wars.
In the case of The White Cliffs of Dover, the message derives from Alice Duer Miller's poem about a women with two counties.
In the case of The Human Comedy, the message derives from William Saroyan's Valentine to America.
10/10
William Saroyon's valentine to America
kijii12 November 2016
This movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Mickey Rooney), and Best Director (Clarence Brown). William Saroyon won an Oscar for Best Original Story.
The story opens with a narration from Mr. Maculey (Ray Collins) as he looks down (from heaven) on his family in the small town of Ithaca, CA during World War II. First, we see his youngest son, Ulysses (Jackie Jenkins), as he sees life from the point of view of a small boy and hear his simple questions about life philosophically answered by his mother (Fay Bainter). Also in Maculey's home we find his college-age daughter, Bess (Donna Reed) and her friend, next door neighbor, her older brother's sweetheart, Mary (Dorothy Morris).
Maculey high school aged son, Homer (Mickey Rooney), is just starting a job as a telegraph delivery boy. The boss at the telegraph office, Tom Spangler (James Craig), teaches Homer that being a telegraph delivery boy is a valuable education, almost an adventure.
The old philosophical telegrapher, Mr. Grogan (Frank Morgan), also helps teach Homer his new duties, including waking him up whenever a telegraph comes in, giving him hot coffee, and disregarding his drunken condition whenever Homer meets him on the street.
Then, we meet the older Macley son, Marcus (Van Johnson), who is in basic training in North Carolina, preparing for active duty in the service. With his brother away and his father dead, Homer must become the "man of the family." He must both go to school and work to help support the family.
As the film moves into different areas of each of the family member's lives, we see other layers of wisdom and humanity around Ithaca. Homer is seen in class and competing in the 220-low hurdles. Bess and Mary meet three servicemen (Barry Nelson, Don DeFore, and Robert Mitchum), and go to the movies with them to help make the servicemen's evening more memorable and welcoming.
Ulysses befriends a strange mentally retarded boy, Lionel (Darryl Hickman), who finds wonder and amazement everywhere.
In training camp, Marcus befriends a fellow soldier, Tobey George (John Craven), who has no family of his own but adopts the Maculeys through Marcus's descriptions of them.
The movie presents a tapestry of little dramas, little bits of wisdom, and little bits of propaganda (as it stops to show discussions, events, and slogans) in small-town America during WW II.
The telegraph office is used as a symbolic metaphor to connect the town with the outside world. Dozens of messages (from singing telegrams to telegrams from the War Department informing families about the death of their sons or husbands) are transmitted and received by Mr. Grogan and delivered by Homer.
In 1943, America was in the middle of WW II and Hollywood had "gone to war." This movie may seem overly sentimental at times. It presents America's response to the war, on the home front, by using idealized small-town America, much like Norman Rockwell used it in his paintings. One may see this as William Saroyon's valentine to America or his stylized representation of it.
It is important to realize that this movie did not come out of a vacuum. Many award-winning movies from 1942 to 1946 were fixed on the war and how it affected the people "back home." These movies include: Mrs. Miniver, The More the Merrier, Watch on the Rhine, In Which We Serve, So Proudly We Hail, Since You Went Away, The Best Years of Our Life, and To Each his Own. And these are only SOME of the basically NON-combat movies of the era.
THIS movie is worth watching once if only for its well-crafted structure and its interest to American film history. But, for some reason, I come back to watch it over and over. --- [Quoted from IMDb user review]
William Saroyon's valentine to America
kijii12 November 2016
This movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Mickey Rooney), and Best Director (Clarence Brown). William Saroyon won an Oscar for Best Original Story.
The story opens with a narration from Mr. Maculey (Ray Collins) as he looks down (from heaven) on his family in the small town of Ithaca, CA during World War II. First, we see his youngest son, Ulysses (Jackie Jenkins), as he sees life from the point of view of a small boy and hear his simple questions about life philosophically answered by his mother (Fay Bainter). Also in Maculey's home we find his college-age daughter, Bess (Donna Reed) and her friend, next door neighbor, her older brother's sweetheart, Mary (Dorothy Morris).
Maculey high school aged son, Homer (Mickey Rooney), is just starting a job as a telegraph delivery boy. The boss at the telegraph office, Tom Spangler (James Craig), teaches Homer that being a telegraph delivery boy is a valuable education, almost an adventure.
The old philosophical telegrapher, Mr. Grogan (Frank Morgan), also helps teach Homer his new duties, including waking him up whenever a telegraph comes in, giving him hot coffee, and disregarding his drunken condition whenever Homer meets him on the street.
Then, we meet the older Macley son, Marcus (Van Johnson), who is in basic training in North Carolina, preparing for active duty in the service. With his brother away and his father dead, Homer must become the "man of the family." He must both go to school and work to help support the family.
As the film moves into different areas of each of the family member's lives, we see other layers of wisdom and humanity around Ithaca. Homer is seen in class and competing in the 220-low hurdles. Bess and Mary meet three servicemen (Barry Nelson, Don DeFore, and Robert Mitchum), and go to the movies with them to help make the servicemen's evening more memorable and welcoming.
Ulysses befriends a strange mentally retarded boy, Lionel (Darryl Hickman), who finds wonder and amazement everywhere.
In training camp, Marcus befriends a fellow soldier, Tobey George (John Craven), who has no family of his own but adopts the Maculeys through Marcus's descriptions of them.
The movie presents a tapestry of little dramas, little bits of wisdom, and little bits of propaganda (as it stops to show discussions, events, and slogans) in small-town America during WW II.
The telegraph office is used as a symbolic metaphor to connect the town with the outside world. Dozens of messages (from singing telegrams to telegrams from the War Department informing families about the death of their sons or husbands) are transmitted and received by Mr. Grogan and delivered by Homer.
In 1943, America was in the middle of WW II and Hollywood had "gone to war." This movie may seem overly sentimental at times. It presents America's response to the war, on the home front, by using idealized small-town America, much like Norman Rockwell used it in his paintings. One may see this as William Saroyon's valentine to America or his stylized representation of it.
It is important to realize that this movie did not come out of a vacuum. Many award-winning movies from 1942 to 1946 were fixed on the war and how it affected the people "back home." These movies include: Mrs. Miniver, The More the Merrier, Watch on the Rhine, In Which We Serve, So Proudly We Hail, Since You Went Away, The Best Years of Our Life, and To Each his Own. And these are only SOME of the basically NON-combat movies of the era.
THIS movie is worth watching once if only for its well-crafted structure and its interest to American film history. But, for some reason, I come back to watch it over and over. --- [Quoted from IMDb user review]
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:
In the small town of Ithaca, California, teenager Homer Macauley takes a night job as a telegraph messenger in order to help his widowed mother Katie make ends meet during his older brother Marcus' military absence. The eager Homer is awestruck by his manly new manager, Tom Spangler, a former valley champion in the 220 low hurdles, the same track and field event in which Homer competes, and is undaunted when the elderly, eloquent wire chief, Willie Grogan, issues instructions on how to rouse him when he is drunk. After Homer delivers his first wartime death notice, however, he is burdened by the grim realities of his job and confides a sudden loneliness to his mother. The understanding Katie, who has come to terms with her own husband Matthew's untimely death, reassures him that his confusion is a natural part of growing up. Later, at school, Homer and his rival, the well-to-do Hubert Ackley III, get into trouble with Miss Hicks, their ancient history teacher, for trading insults in class. As punishment, Miss Hicks orders the teenagers to stay after school and miss their scheduled 220 low hurdle race. The boys's coach, Blenton, however, lies to Miss Hicks that the principal has ordered Hubert to compete and pulls him from detention. Angry at Blenton's deception, Miss Hicks allows Homer to go, and to everyone's surprise, Homer wins the race. Later, Homer is forced to sing Hubert's telegraphed birthday greeting to Helen Elliot, the object of Homer and Hubert's desire, at a party to which Homer has not been invited. Although humiliated, Homer accepts Hubert's subsequent apology, and both boys agree to make peace with each other. The down-to-earth Tom, meanwhile, reluctantly accepts an invitation from his wealthy girl friend, Diana Steed, to meet her parents for the first time. Just before he is to be introduced to her father, however, Tom bolts from the Steed house and confesses to Diana his fears that her parents will not approve of him. After Diana assures Tom that her parents are not snobs, the two pledge their love, and Tom greets Mr. Steed wearing one of the elder man's bow ties. At the same time, in town, Homer's older sister Bess and next-door neighbor Mary Arena, Marcus' fiancée, meet three soldiers on the way to the movie theater and shyly invite them along to the show. The soldiers are grateful for the women's company, and Bess and Mary, seeing Marcus in each of them, are happy to have brightened the lonely men's day. Far from home, at his Army training camp, Marcus, meanwhile, tells his buddy, Tobey George, about his idyllic life in Ithaca, and Tobey, an orphan, decides to move there after the war and "become" a Macauley. Just before Marcus is to be shipped out, Homer receives a heartfelt letter from him. Unnerved by Marcus' advice to prepare for his possible death, Homer declares to Willie that he will "spit at the world" if Marcus is killed. Months later, while attending a Sunday festival, the newly married Tom confesses to his bride, Diana, that he has enlisted in the Navy, and although she is pregnant, Diana bravely endorses his decision. In town, meanwhile, Homer notices Willie in the telegraph office while walking with Bess, Mary and his little brother Ulysses, and stops to say hello. Willie is passed out and, as a message starts to come in, Homer runs for some hot coffee. When Homer returns, he discovers that Willie has died, having succumbed to a heart attack after receiving a message about Marcus' death. Tom then comforts the grief-stricken Homer, and while Homer gathers his courage to tell his family the tragic news, the two play horseshoes in the park. At the same time, Tobey, who was wounded during battle, has arrived in Ithaca and is headed for the Macauley home. Outside his house, Homer meets Tobey, about whom Marcus had often written, and sadly accepts Marcus' class ring from him. Bolstered by Tobey's love, Homer yells to his family that "the soldier's come home" and walks through the front door with him, ready to face his family. Watching his now mature son, the spirit of Matthew comments to the spirit of Marcus that "the ending is only the beginning."