La lunga attesa

I've never been one to compliment Clark Gable's acting talents. Yes, he had a great screen presence and represented the everyman in the early '30s when no other good-looking actor fit the bill, but I usually thought all he did was shout and talk quickly. In Homecoming, he surprised me. Full of subtleties and tender expressions, he stars as a man coming home from the war but holds memories he'll never be able to bury.

Told in flashback format, a reporter, talks to different soldiers returning on the ship. When he approaches Clark Gable, he's initially resistant. But thanks to the camera, we get to learn what Clark doesn't tell the reporter. Clark was a doctor, stationed overseas with his pal and fellow doctor John Hodiak. His nurse was the capable Lana Turner, in a rare break from her sexpot roles. They worked fantastically well together and bonded over seeing the horrors of war. Homecoming is a rare honest movie that shows how overworked and underappreciated the doctors, nurses, and medics were. The movie shows them being just as bombarded as the fighting men, with influx after influx of severely injured soldiers coming into the medical tent so quickly and urgently that they can't catch their breaths. It's far different to be a doctor at home than a doctor at war, and only those who have experienced it can truly understand. If you were moved by Lara and Dr. Zhivago's relationship, you'll love this movie.

If 1948 hadn't had such stiff competition, as Hatter's Castle, All My Sons, and Enchantment, I'm sure this movie would have racked up some nominations at the Hot Toasty Rag Awards. As it was, this move wasn't honored, but I do highly recommend it. It's a change of pace for both leads, and in a post-war world, it was the perfect type of war movie to be released in 1948. Many veterans had a tough transition from the battlefield to civilian life, and this movie shows one man's struggle. In the supporting cast, you'll see Anne Baxter, Marshall Thompson, Gladys Cooper, Ray Collins, Queenie Leonard, Cameron Mitchell, and cameos from Jeff Corey and a pre-famous Arthur O'Connell.

2nd viewing and a lot of time in between.

Enjoyed it first time especially how Lana pulls her role off and how sincere Gable was. Both great actors always worth watching. Anne Baxter was also very,very touching and deep as the wife.

What really got me this time, having spent war time in Nam, was the changes Gable went through and the HOMECOMING. Anyone who has NOT experienced the razor's edge of actual combat, the terror the elation and the horror of seeing others die can feel what Gable projected magnificently in coming home after all that madness and trying to feel like you fit in again anywhere. You don't....for a long time. That why Gable said "...bear with me for a while..." Not only was he talking about losing Lana but returning home from a war, sometimes much more difficult than war itself. This film has so much deep feelings embedded in all three major characters it is amazing to me. The writer nailed it and Mr LeRoy was almost genius in bringing out such performances by all. I'm glad I got to view it on TCM a 2nd time. It really brings out a HOMECOMING!!

The great surprise with this film was to find Lana Turner totally different from all impressions you ever had of her and so much better. She actually makes the film, and every scene with her is golden cinematic sunshine and top film acting because of her. Clark Gable is always good, perhaps the most reliably excellent actor Hollywood ever had, and although he is on top also here, Lana outshines him. Anne Baxter was never lovelier, in the beginning, but she hopelessly falls in the shadow of Lana, and is well aware of it. Another surprise was John Hodiak as the friend and fellow doctor acting as something of a startling conscience but acting it without any effort, as a doctor should react absolutely frankly and matter-of-fact. Gladys Cooper also does a good job as usual as one of her many mothers, while you'll never recognize Cameron Mitchell here as a very young boy. The artistic excellence of unity permeates the film and fills it with warm humanity from beginning to end. Much of the credit for this seething warmth of human atmosphere and candid heartfiulness comes from the exquisitely discreet but nonetheless overwhelmingly beautiful musical score by Bronislau Kaper - I never saw that name before, while at the same time Mervyn LeRoy's masterhand at the direction is felt comfortably all the way. All this ends up to a top score of ten unhesitatingly. It could very well be both Clark Gable's and Lana Turner's best film.

Ulysses ,what a name for a major whose odyssey took place in WW2,who learned after his "voyage" that success is no success at all,that selfishness leads to nowhere and that a doctor's work is to help his fellow men;we are not far from Stahl's "magnificent obsession" in which a reckless playboy was told that a man (Jesus ) had given his life so man was saved .

It's strange that the world Ulysse lives in is full of altruistic persons ,from "Snapshot" the nurse who never has a rest till all the wounded soldiers are operated to the Chester doctor (Hodiak) whose war has begun long before WW2,and from "Monk" the unfortunate soldier to the good doctor Sunday (again,what a name!).The US army looks more like Salvation Army! The title is partly a misnomer because it's essentially a long flashback (actually several flashbacks) dealing with the hard life of a military medical team in the war.Thus Gable is torn between his faithful wife (Anne Baxter) and his courageous nurse (their relationship is much too predictable).Best scene is perhaps the "Roman " bath :we feel that Gable is very human when she takes her bath and he 's got to force himself to stay calm and not to have a little look !

Successful surgeon Ulysses Johnson (Clark Gable) joins the Army Medical Corps during WW2. Once deployed, he develops a tempestuous relationship with his chief nurse, Jane "Snapshot" McCall (Lana Turner). Their constant bickering eventually morphs into romantic feelings, which Johnson's wife Penny (Anne Baxter) can sense back home through his letters. She looks for solace from crusading doctor Robert Sunday (John Hodiak).

This somewhat soapy romance features surprisingly good performances from the cast. Gable seems an unlikely surgeon at first, but he settles into that role well. Baxter and Hodiak, a real-life married couple at the time, give their best to underwritten parts. The real revelation is Lana Turner, an actress that I've never really warmed to. I thought she fit her role well in The Postman Always Rings Twice, but every other movie that I've seen her in, I couldn't help thinking it would be better with someone else cast. Here she's real and genuine and nuanced like I haven't seen her before. It may be the script, or direction that clicked, or co-star Gable, or all of the above, but it works, and it's the best acting job I've seen from her.