The scene in the beginning of the film, where Paula has Smithy in the upstairs room above the bar, & he's clutching the paper package that holds everything he has in the world. He looks & sounds like a scared, lost little boy & it broke my heart.
His mother should've thrown him away and kept the stork - Mae West
I felt the same way! He was so heartbreaking at the start of the film. So lost and confused but still sweet at the beginning of the film. It made me so glad he finds someone lovely, warm and kind like Paula.
Very good acting by everyone but I was very impressed by Coleman in this film. He essentially played Smithy/Charles Ranier as three different characters (Smithy the lost lonely soldier/ Smithy the happy, confident family man /Charles Ranier the successful, confident professional with the melancholy from his lost years) and did it so believably.