nyescape Reviews

The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)

White Cliffs of Dover

[9/10 · 25 February 2006]

This was an incredible War movie which spanned WWI and WWII. It was a romance/drama. Irene Dunne is the female lead who falls in love with and marries a man who soon goes off to fight in France during World War I. He dies and she had his child, a boy.

The boy grows to manhood and is played by Peter Lawford. As the movie ends, Dunne is seeing her son, Lawford go off to fight in WWII. You can see the pain and the pride in Dunne's eyes.

It was a fabulous movie. It dramatizes the great sacrifices made by the British in both World Wars. Britain lost so many of her sons in WWI, I believe the stats were approximately 50% of men between the ages of 18 and 45. The movies points up the fact that the loses, pain and suffering of the English were about to be revisited in WWII.

I can appreciate this and other war movies as I am the mother of a Marine who is about to be sent to Iraq.

About Mrs. Leslie (1954)

About Mrs. Leslie

[7/10 · 25 February 2006]

This is a wonderful love story. Shirley Booth is Vivien; Robert Ryan is George Leslie - Leslie is actually his middle name - he wanted to keep his identity a secret from Booth.

Booth is an "old maid" type who is introduced to George Leslie, a wealthy businessman. They have a long-term affair as Ryan is married. This was rather risqué as the flashbacks take place in the late 1930s through VJ day, 1945.

As the movie opens, Booth is an elderly woman who runs a boarding house. She recounts her life with Ryan in a flashback method.

The scene near to the end is most moving. It is VJ day in NYC. Booth is working in a dress shop and she is pulled out to the street to join the celebration that WWII is finally over. As she stands in the street near Times Square, she see the news ticker flash the message: "George Leslie _______, died suddenly today of a massive heart attack . . ., " at which point she swoons. The film returns to Booth as an older landlady.

The catch phrase in the film used by Booth was, ". . .Mr. Leslie, honey," each time she would meet with or part from Ryan.

It was a moving film, different from the typical post-war movies of the time. Shirley booth was excellent. Robert Ryan, who was a Marine and served with the OSS in Yugoslavia in WWII, was excellent.

I wish I could get a copy of the film. It made quite an impression on me and I saw it only once. I hadn't noted the title, but when I described it to my dad, who knew every movie, I said "Mr. Leslie, honey." and he knew it immediately.

Miracle in the Rain (1956)

Miracle in the Rain

[7/10 · 23 February 2006]

The "miracle" in Miracle in the Rain was related to a Roman coin which Wyman purchased and gave to Johnson before he was deployed to Europe (WWII.) She was told by the vendor it was a lucky coin. She gives it to Johnson, whom she loves, as a lucky charm to keep him safe while he is engaged in combat. Presumedly, the coin was with Johnson when he was killed in action. Read on for the "miracle."

Wyman was a lonely girl with a controlling mother. She has a job and the people at her job like her but she is not popular in the normal sense of the word. When she meets Johnson, her disposition changes. It is obvious she is in love.

There is a scene in which her father explains why he left her mother. Her father is not a part of the "miracle."

Wyman, who was affianced to Johnson, receives word from the State Department that Johnson was killed in action. She is so distraught, she wanders into St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC and discovers a statue of St. Andrew (brother of St. Peter) whose altar has no candles in front of it. Wyman asks the priest why and says that she doesn't like him (St. Andrew)being in the darkness. She asks the priest's permission to light candles - even though she is not Catholic. She continues visiting the church and the statue of St. Andrew every day.

One cold and rainy night, she runs out to the church; she was under the weather already and she becomes soaked by the pouring rain. She collapses on the front steps. When she is found, dead, she is holding the Roman coin which had been in Johnson's possession from the time she presented it to him! Thus, the miracle.