Perfect Strangers

This is an excellent movie about spouses rediscovering each other. Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr are perfect as a mousy and dull couple who are transformed by the challenges of war and a separation from each other. It's rare to find a movie that focuses on a married couple in this way. This is a film for romantics and, since I am one, I recommend it strongly.

There are certain stories that are so original and intrinsically entertaining that they get reinvented every 20 or 30 years. Case in point, "The shop around the corner", which became "In the good old summertime" and finally "You've got mail". That's the kind of originality that runs through this story. Premise: A young married couple about to be parted for 3 years, both to do duty in her Majesty's Royal Navy in WWII. He's timid and boring. She's mousy and sickly. He becomes bold and manly. She blossoms into an attractive and assertive woman. Both now dread having to meet each other again after several years separation, remembering only how each partner use to be like. What happens when they meet again is pure fun. Why are there no remakes of this terrific story? We've had plenty of new wars to use as a background. People still change, sometimes for the better, during long separations. I have a VHS copy of this story taped from TV years ago. I only wish they would sell this movie again, while we wait for the updated script someone should write.

Deborah Kerr and Robert Donat give wonderful performances in "Vacation from Marriage," a 1945 film directed by Alexander Korda. It's the story of a boring British couple - she's a mousy housewife prone to colds, and he's a mousy accountant who lives by a strict routine. When World War II hits, he joins the Navy and she joins the WRENS. He becomes very healthy, authoritative, and adventurous, and she becomes glamorous and independent. When faced with 10 days leave after nearly three years apart, neither one is looking forward to seeing the other again.

This very enjoyable film is heightened by the performances of the leads, both of whom ably demonstrate their change of personality and appearance after a few years of war. Glynis Johns is very good in a supporting role as well.

Highly recommended.

What a wonderful movie!

As is often the case I was drawn to it by the names - Robert Donat, Deborah Kerr, Glynis Johns and Alexander Korda. How can you go wrong? I learned later that this was the flick that made Kerr a star, and understandably so. Glynis Johns is always a delight to the eye.

The story line - a humdrum couple separated and transformed by the war - sounds like the makings for a pretty humdrum soap opera, but the script is very well done and involves us in the stories of these two people as they drift away from each other (or so they think).

The great Alexander Korda's direction is spot on and masterful. Particularly impressive are the cutaway shots from husband to wife as each of them travels home to meet each other on leave after 3 years apart from each other, he in the Navy, she in the Wrens (Britain's naval corps for women). We learn from their conversations with their traveling companions about their apprehensions about reuniting. The scene where they face each other with their doubts is shot completely in the dark, a master stroke, reflecting the fact that they really don't know each other anymore.

It's also a very good snapshot of wartime life in Britain.

Incidentally, it seems the film was originally released in a longer version titled "Perfect Strangers."

Altogether a wonderful find. Thank you Turner Classic Movies.

We saw this movie years ago on AMC and taped it. Fortunately, it is now available on DVD. The US version is shorter by 9 minutes, and I keep wondering what I have missed. It would be nice if the "Perfect Strangers" full version could be had.

I won't repeat any of the plot here, but I will mention a few scenes and details that might be missed. First off, the attention to detail is fabulous. The funky London smokestacks, the military uniforms, the barrage balloons, even the casting-off drill on the WREN's launch. Robert's love interest Elena is of course a member of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, in a spot-on white dress uniform.

As some other reviewers have pointed out, the ending is not as good as it could have been. The argument in the street is rather contrived, and I always wonder what happened to Chief Petty Officer McAllister - he just sort of wanders off at 3 or 4 in the morning, with no obvious place to go. This scene needed to be redone!

But far and away the best scene in the movie is when Robert and Cathy finally set eyes on one another in the pub. In particular, Cathy stares and stares at Robert, seemingly forever, not believing her eyes. I don't know how Deborah Kerr managed this, but Cathy somehow looked Robert up and down, without changing the position of her eyes. It is awesome!