I'll Walk Beside You

How many wartime films were made which involved a serviceman husband/fiancé who disappeared in the course of the war and was believed dead only to..........? I recall Michael Redgrave and Michael Gough to name but two of the husbands/fiancés and there must have quite a few more. Well here we go again. This time the leading man, Richard Bird, stocky, stiff, stilted and aged 48 was improbably cast up against the striking 26 year old Lesley Brook (a British Norma Shearer) as his devoted and faithful. Here though the plot is given an additional twist. But given the era, the story must have struck a popular chord.

For some reason around this time, British films often included, for no particular reason, musical interludes. They were however of very good quality and probably the chief source of enjoyment. Once again the popular tenor John McHugh appears, here singing the title song and there are a couple of songs from the St Davids Singers - introduced as "not bad" amateurs but in fact an excellent Welsh male voice choir. The London Symphony Orchestra features also. Were these films a kind of early "Jukebox Musical?

Incidentally an very early appearance from Irene Handl playing exactly as she would for the following 40 years.

Well someone has gone to the trouble of making a list and found 50.I doubt he knows about this one.Also many films show that an operation cures amnesia,but no where could I find this on the net.Richard Bird was a reasonable character actor but a leading man he is not.The idea that a woman almost half his age would go weak at the knees for him is rather visible.There is an awful lot of music and general passing probably in an effort to get this film on top of the bill or co feature status.For example the characters are all shown coming out of church but there is no dialogue and no other reason for this scene.It is reasonably entertaining if you fast forward through some of the musical numbers.

A shoestring 'Random Harvest' providing escapism for lonely women while the men were away, set in the early years of the war and padded out with occasional sentimental songs.

Studio bound, but good looking thanks to veteran cameraman Geoffrey Faithfull, while the women's clothes and hairstyles look as if they consumed half the budget. All concerned naturally conduct themselves nobly and Lesley Brook and Richard Bird make attractive leads; even if the latter is old enough to be the former's father, as earlier reviewers have churlishly pointed out.