Sunday Dinner for a Soldier

I have been looking for this movie for a long time! I first saw it when it was a new movie and I was a child about the age of the little girl in the movie. It made a big impression on me at the time, partly because my father was away serving in the Navy. As an adult, I had vague memories of it but could not remember the title of the film. I remembered the older sister and the soldier (although I thought of him as a Navy man) on the beach, and I remembered the little girl, and an overall feeling that it was a good movie I had really enjoyed. Over the years I watched a lot of movies made during the war, hoping to find the right one, but never having success. A couple of years ago I found a description on the internet that sounded like the movie I was looking for, but I still couldn't be sure it was the right one. At least I had a title to look for, but the movie apparently was not available for sale and did not turn up on TV until today! I just saw it on the Fox movie channel and it was the movie I remembered! I loved the movie this time, too; it is a wonderful, heartwarming family film.

I have to agree with all the positive comments here. "Sunday Dinner For A Soldier" is a wonderful family film. I'm very surprised that it isn't in either DVD or VHS release. Everyone in the cast shines, and the plot is simple, yet beautiful, with just enough humor to keep it rolling along. I've always been a big fan of both John Hodiak and Anne Baxter, so this was perfect casting, in my opinion. Baxter was never lovelier than during this period in her career.

It shows up on the Fox Movie Channel every now and then, as it was a Fox Studio production, but I wish it was available for purchase. I'd pull it out every couple of months, just to get spiritually recharged. It is an uplifting film, filled with hope and resolve in the midst of wartime.

I feel I have to take issue with the previous comments from a reader who says they cannot understand why previous readers gave it ten stars. This is the reason I am giving it ten stars as my favourite picture that I first saw in the early 50s. The comments made about John Hodiak not appearing until the end of the picture are wrong. When Hodiak does appear he works solid through to the end of the picture. The comments made about this not being a great film as it was shot on the back lot of Fox are rubbish. I have a lot of the backlot stills that were never seen by the public but were kept by the child star Connie Marshall. A lot of work was put into this picture.Sure it was shot on the back lot of Fox. So was "Casablanca" shot on the back lot of WB and the airport scene at the end shot at Van Nuys airport. That was a great film wasn it? This was child star Connie Marshall's first picture and she was not on the credits as "Introducing" but among the lead cast. As somebody who has been in the film industry and a film buff all his life I appreciate cinema more that anybody. If you are going to vote on a film learn the history about it and not that it was cheaply made. There was a war on at the time this was made and it was made as fantasy to please the picturegoing public. Looking at the votes given on this site it appears to have just done that.The cinema was there for all of us to escape the outside world and live in a fantasy world for a few hours, this picture gave us just that.Top stars, great story, great music and make believe. A pure gem. I hope I have explained now why I personally gave this a top rating and why it will always be my favourite picture.

I first saw Sunday Dinner for a Soldier in 1945 or 1946 when I was about 8 and it has stuck with me all these years. The last scene, when John Hodiak's plane is dipping its wings as they are leaving to go overseas caused me to choke up when I first saw and it still affects me the same way. The scene in which John Hodiak and Anne Baxter are dancing in the unfinished night club is very moving and projects the feelings between them much better then the bedroom scenes of today's movies. Sunday Dinner for a Soldier is a very enjoyable movie especially for people who lived through that era. I wish it would be released on DVD and I agree with one of the other comments about so many trashy movies having been released on DVD.

Sunday Dinner for a Soldier is a class act. From first scene to last it will tug on your heartstrings and make you long for a time in America when people took pride in their country, in their families, in being responsible, without always thinking of themselves first. It was a time when home was where the heart was, since so many young men were in Europe or Asia fighting to liberate the world from fascism.

The story is about a poor family living in a ram-shackled houseboat, who have to scrounge for a living, but who have big hearts. They want to share their gifts of love, friendship and food with a US soldier, whom they have been told will be delivered to their house on a Sunday by an aid society. There is a mix up and it looks like he won't show up when all of a sudden God - it had to be God! - brings one to their home by chance. It turns out he is a man from a broken family (John Hodiak) and he quickly warms to the old grandpa of the house, the little children, and the eldest daughter (Anne Baxter, who never looked lovelier than in this film). They quickly become his surrogate family.

Exceptional performances by everyone, particularly Anne and John, who fell in love while making this picture and got married and had a child together. You can sense there was a real attraction there, it wasn't just acting. I loved the scene where they danced together in the unfinished dance hall by the sea. Oh my gosh, how romantic! Of the children it's Connie Marshall whom you'll remember the most. What a delightful child actress she was; she doesn't deserve to be forgotten. I actually sought this film out just to see another film she was in, after seeing her give another luminous performance in Sentimental Journey, with Maureen O'Hara. She didn't disappoint! This film needs to be seen by more people. How can they continue to ignore gems like Sunday Dinner for a Soldier and put out total junk on DVD every day? It's beyond me. Here's hoping some saner heads will prevail and we'll one day see an official release of this unforgettable film.