A Guy Named Joe

A jingost and agreeable tale about the angel of a dead WWII pilot guiding another young one . ¨A Guy Named Joe¨ stars Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne, it was one of MGM's top grossers for 1944. A gal named Dorinda loved a guy named Joe. They couldn't hear him. They couldn't see him. But he was there when they needed him... Even after he was gone. It deals with a likeable WWII pilot (Spencer Tracy) in love for the beautiful Dorinda (Irene Dunne) . One day he is killed , as he finds himself returning as an invisible ghost who's presence is barely felt giving advice to his successor. As he is guiding another young pilot (Van Johnson) throughout aerial battles and also helping him to romance his girl , who's still devoted to hiis memory . Pete then finds that his successor is also falling in love with her . A guy - a gal - a pal - It's Swell!

Thi is an exhilarating, heart-satisfying emotional experience - you will long remember .A patriotic , sentimental Hollywood fantasy dealing with the spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind . This classy film was remade as ¨Always¨ (1989) by Steven Spielberg . A clip from that film was featured in Poltergeist (1982), which was co-written by director Steven Spielberg. In ¨Always¨ Pete's angel's name is Hap , an early military aviation pioneer, trained at the Wright Brother's flying school, and the only five star general of the US Air Force, was "Hap" Arnold ; in the film this movie was based on , ¨A guy named Joe¨ (1943), Joe's angel was also a former pilot, this makes Hap's name more than a coincidence , originally, the character was supposed to be male . Spencer Tracy's sincerity is major asset as an airman who, after getting killed , looks after the fortunes of his fellows . The secondary cast of MGM reliables includes notorious stars such as : Van Johnson, Ward Bond, James Gleason, Lionel Barrymore , Barry Nelson , Henry O'Neill , Don DeFore , Addison Richards , and a very young Esther Williams without swimming pool in sight.

The motion picture was well directed by Victor Fleming . Victor worked for the Hollywood's main Majors , as in Paramount , Fleming's first major successes were Lord Jim (1925) , The Blind Goddess (1926) and Abie's Irish Rose (1928) , all of them Silent Pictures . The following year, he brought Clara Bow to fame in Mantrap, filmed the now-lost Spanish-American War epic The Rough Riders, and in 1927 he was Emil Jannings' first American director with The Way of All Flesh. Fleming's first all-sound film, The Virginian, established Gary Cooper's laconic character. At MGM, Fleming vaulted Clark Gable to stardom with Red Dust (1932) and began a string of fast-paced hits with Bombshell (1933), Treasure Island (1934), Reckless (1935) , Captains Courageous (1937) , A Star Is Born (1937) co-directed with William A Wellman and Test Pilot (1938). He also remade a large portion of The Great Waltz (1938) after the studio fired original director Julien Duvivier. Fleming took over The Wizard of Oz from Richard Thorpe in October 1938, but before he ended that picture, was asked to take over David Selznick's troubled production of Gone With the Wind from George Cukor. In the following decade, all Fleming's last pictures were big office hits and with the greatest stars , such as : Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) with Spencer Tracy , Lana Turner , Joan of Arc (1948) with Ingrid Bergman , José Ferrer , Guy Named Joe (1943) , Adventure (1945) with Clark Gable , Greer Garson, Joan Blondell , among others.

This is one of those old-fashioned, nice stories with generally nice people, some good lessons to be learned and some touching scenes. You just have to go with the fantasy-type theologies, in this story dead people coming back as angels-you-can see.

Irene Dunne never looked better, although the soft-focus lens helped her looks. She isn't beautiful but she's wholesomely pretty, and thus appealing. Spencer Tracy gives his normal strong performance but I liked supporting actor Ward Bond in here better. Tracy gives an excellent short speech at the end of this film.

The special-effects in the aviator-war scenes were not good but, hey, this film was made about 65 years ago. You could tell the planes were model airplanes on several shots.

Note: this film was re-made by Steven Spielberg 40 years later under the title "Always." That was a nice film, too, but I think I'd still take this version.

"A Guy Named Joe" is a beautiful, sentimental, tear-jerker of a film starring Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, James Gleason, and Dom Defore. Tracy is Pete, a fighter pilot in World War II involved with Dorinda (Dunne), a female flier. Apparently pilots whose "number is up" emit some kind of dead man walking spirit, because Dunne recognizes the signs and wants Pete to return to the states with her and teach fledgling pilots. She's so desperate that he agrees, but he's called for one last mission, and the inevitable happens. Before he knows it, no one can see him or hear him, he's escorted around heaven and earth by Barry Nelson, and assigned to be an angel for a young pilot (Johnson).

For all the warmth of this film, it was fraught with problems behind the scenes. Van Johnson was in a horrid car accident before he finished filming. The actors said they wanted to wait for him rather than see him replaced. That story may or may not be true, as the scar on his forehead is only visible in a couple of scenes; there can't have been much left to film. The second problem was that Spencer Tracy kept coming on to Irene Dunne, which made her furious, and she complained to the front office. She never worked with him again, which is a pity, because they made a charismatic screen couple.

Spencer Tracy is fantastic as a cocky pilot who comes down to earth only when he dies. His scenes as he stands behind Dunne telling her what he should have said to her while alive are very tender. Dunne is excellent as always - strong yet vulnerable, and she gets to sing "I'll Get By" in her lovely soprano. Johnson, in his breakthrough role, is good-looking, boyish, and likable. One of the nicest thing about "A Guy Named Joe" is some of the lighting effects - the silhouette of Dunne as she says goodbye to Pete; the look of his plane in the distance when she first arrives - these really add to the sense of foreboding.

Strangely, when viewed today, "A Guy Named Joe" is a feminist movie in more ways than even it knew. Dunne is a female pilot and proves her mettle in a dangerous mission. But more than that, consider the fact that she becomes involved with Johnson in the film and was 18 years his senior! She was 45 when this movie was released, and Johnson was 29. The age difference is obvious. Good for her - playing a lead at that age while employed by Louis B, no less, and having a younger love interest! Mayer is the man who booted out Joan Crawford and didn't make any noise when Garbo and Shearer left.

If your eyes aren't moist at the end of "A Guy Named Joe," it'll be surprising. Much loved by Steven Spielberg (who remade it), and a lot of other people, it still touches the heart today and reinforced to wartime audiences that the spirit of their deceased ones continues on, with love the tie that binds.

Some reviewers have complained that certain parts of the movie are unbelievable--agreed. However, "A Guy Named Joe" isn't a documentary. It's a riff on the nature of love and loss.

I've seen many Spencer Tracey movies, but none in which he is so subtle, charming, and heartbreaking. I won't give away his final line at the end, but it is a very simple line, delivered simply. But in his understated way, he encapsulates the most complex of human emotions.

Irene Dunne, a truly fine actress, is at her best here. Yes, her style does take a little getting used to for modern audiences, but she, too, has some incredibly difficult work to do in this film, and she meets the task impressively. And Van Johnson, whom I've never really given much thought, turns in a fine performance here, early in his career.

It is obvious that these three actors had a healthy rapport together. The lines of communication had to have been wide open for them to have turned in such gentle, subtly nuanced performances.

I can't say enough about this film. It may sound corny, but if you have ever loved anyone, and if you have ever lost anyone, you will immediately recognize the characters in this film. It's also worth mentioning that the screenplay contains some of the most beautiful poetic language I've ever heard in a movie. If you've never seen "A Guy Named Joe," I strongly recommend it; it will do your heart good.

This is one of the best love stories ever. It isn't a war story, war simply happens to be the setting. And I don't see how a movie can prevent nations from winning a war. The whole fact that Spencer Tracy's character loves Irene Dunne's so much that he will watch her marry another man is the most amazing testimony of love. I don't know how you can watch one of the final scenes; in which Tracy and Dunne are in the plane and he says that their love is too good to make her unhappy; and still call "A Guy Named Joe," a silly movie. Again, the war was simply a setting, because war in itself isn't very interesting, it is the human experience in war which creates a story.

The Fact that Spielberg enjoyed and admired it so much that he remade it also says a little for the film.