The Woman in Green (1945)

Sherlock Holmes is working the "Finger Murders" case -- women are being killed in London and their index fingers cleanly removed. There's hypnotism, a femme fatale, and a bumbling Watson. Yet, somehow, it's still a yawn.

C

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

Terrific movie about a struggling family living in a tenement.  The father is both loving and an alcoholic with continual dreams about his showbiz ship finally coming in. His children adore him but his wife is tired of being the only responsible one.

It’s terribly affecting and treads the line between depressing and inspiring beautifully. It’s a reminder that family means sacrifice and, no matter what a family’s circumstance, love can be a part of the picture. It's lovely and sad.

A-

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Mildred’s unemployed husband has walked out on her and their two daughters. The older, an ungrateful, spoiled teenager, is embarrassed by their working-class status, but Mildred still manages to make good with a chain of profitable restaurants.

It tries to be all Sunset Boulevardy with a corpse up-front and the “how it happened” unfolding afterward, but it can’t touch that masterpiece. Melodramatic and fun in its way, but pretty one-note.

C+

A Walk in the Sun (1945)

"It's a walk that leads down through a Philippine town and it hits Highway seven North of Rome..." That's an actual lyric from one of the many ballads on the movie's soundtrack. The words were so ridiculously specific that they were pretty hysterical.

The movie was stuffed with blandly delivered and unbelievable dialogue along the lines of "what are you thinking about?" "An apple." "An apple? They're pretty good." "Yep, an apple. And I don't even really like apples." "You don't like apples?" Arrrgh. I mean, are these supposed to be men taking part in a terrifying war or a '50s instructional film on polite conversational topics suitable for a quilting bee?

While watching this, bored out of my mind, I got in the mood to watch a more authentic take on the hardships of WWII -- so my son and I pulled out Saving Private Ryan. If this movie was unbearable before, finishing it up after viewing SPR made everything seem even more amateur.

D+

Love Letters (1945)

A soldier writes letters for a playboy Cyrano-style and falls for the recipient when he reads her replies. But he's gone and made her fall in love with the playboy, so that sucks.

I usually find Jennifer Jones to be rather dull (e.g. Love is a Many Splendored Thing and A Farewell to Arms). She's still kinda blank here, but since she's playing an amnesiac, it works in her favor a bit.

Gets wrapped up a bit too neatly in the end -- not great by any means, but pretty good.

B

A Song to Remember (1945)

The IMDb plot outline reads "Biography of Frederic Chopin." Ummm...yeah. That's kinda like saying The Da Vinci Code will tell you the true story of Christ.

Chopin's a Polish Revolutionary (!) who escapes to Paris after enraging the powers that be in his homeland. There he becomes a celebrity of the "leave me alone with my genius" variety -- forgetting his younger ideals. Don't worry, though, because when he's really needed he'll give a concert that kills him for dear old Poland!

Pretty much just a bunch of junky fictional melodrama with pretty music.

C-

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Yay! Time for Christmas movies! This was the third (or fourth maybe?) time I've seen this one, but it was new to the boys.

Gracious living columnist whose articles are all about her sprawling farm, luscious meals, home décor, and husband & child is recruited by her boss - a stickler for printing the truth - to play hostess to a young war hero over Christmas. Problem is that she's actually single, living in a cramped apartment, without the faintest clue about how to put together a meal.

Terrific fun to see the columnist and determined friends fake a home and do it well. Awfully predictable, but that's certainly not a drawback in this kind of film. Charmed us all.

B+

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)

Good-natured and surprisingly poignant. Robinson is particularly good as the father, though O'Brien is a great match. Biggest problem for me was the schoolteacher storyline -- quite uninteresting.

B

The Body Snatcher (1945)

Does nothing with its great premise: short on "specimens," a doctor and his young protégé must accept the shady offerings (and kinda creepy company) of a grave robber. There's a backstory that isn't given the time nor explanation it deserves, but oh well. Feels like it treads water after the first 40 minutes or so.

C+

Pride of the Marines (1945)

I quite enjoyed the first half-hour which was, essentially, the story of a short courtship. The rest of it was pretty "eh." Guy goes to war for a couple of weeks, gets a grenade in the face and has a hard time accepting his new life. Done with more humanity and less propaganda in 1950's The Men.

C

What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945)

There's not enough story -- it's like watching a series of vignettes that people tell when they've already used up all of the interesting stuff. Hargrove is, apparently, supposed to be some hapless screw-up -- but he's no Gomer Pyle. He comes across as merely an inexperienced pleaser.

C-

Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Like the best Astaire movies, the plot is just a flimsy excuse to string a bunch of music and dance numbers together. Unlike those wonderful Astaire films, I fast-forwarded through most of the singing and quite a bit of the dancing.

The difference seems to be that Astaire & Rogers infused their dancing with humor and seemed to love what they were doing. Kelly, on the other hand, seems to love that people are looking at him and every movement shouts, "Look at me! I'm amazing!" Well – you're not. In the one dance sequence he shared with Sinatra, it was Frank I watched – no, he's not as technically good as Gene, but he's human.

I find that most of Kelly's movies have a theme of smarminess - they're always somewhat dirty and I just can't get behind them in a joyful way. Leading lady Grayson was as wooden as Andie MacDowell on her worst days and I still can't understand why people would want to listen to that operatic type of voice she possesses! Yuck on all levels (except the sweet Sinatra level).

D+

The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)

Tremendously inspiring and altogether lovely film about a priest who believes himself to be a humble failure – but we see in flashback that he is anything but. He serves as a vivid example of what servants of Christ should be, especially in regard to self-importance. I cried at the end and enjoyed the tears greatly.

A

Music for Millions (1945)

Sweet story with the adorable O'Brien playing little sister to June Allyson. Nothing great, but obviously filmed to provide those waiting for word of their loved ones to return from the war hope that they're OK. It works, but it could've done without about half of the music.

B-