A Little Confused...



So, did John really not know that he was her first husband (John Andrew) or was he just telling her all that stuff about her associating him with her carefree days of youth, so she would be able to move on and stay with her "second" family? I was a little confused as whether he really didn't know he was her first husband or he was just doing what was best for her.

we live in a beautiful world..yeah we do, yeah we do.

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No he knew, He knew he was ill and was soon going to die .if you watch where he is cleared to enter New York and they ask him and the little girl to please wait ,it is mentioned that's he sick. Then first thing he does is go by the house they once shared before going off to war.I think he just wanted to see her one more time before he died and find a place for the little girl. He really had no idea she was married to his boss when he took the job . Learning he had a son was wonderful I am sure , Maybe if he had not been so hurt in the war he would have returned to her . A beautiful story .....Not your ususal Welles movie......He was a Great actor.

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He knew, he had kept the letter she had written him, remember? He just didn't want to admit it to her and risk her trying to get back together with him when she had a wonderful life already and had been well taken care of. She told Larry(before they married) that she would never love anyone like she loved John, and maybe he knew that. He may have also known he was dying and it would have been useless of her to try and be with him..??

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I am confused too. How was he so disabled that he wouldn't go home? I missed that part or something. And did she believe him in the end or did she just say, oh, forget it, he is doing this for my own good, denying that he is John?

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[deleted]


His face is so badly disfigured, he feels his wife could never love him again, only pity him. The Austrian doctor speaks about plastic surgery, but John doesn't believe the doctor and wants to die. Obviously, the Austrian doctor at some point performed nearly miraculous plastic sugery on him, so his face eventually came out OK, just different from before.
. . . . . . . .

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I have never told this story before, but I, too, was ten. My mom chose this movie, which we had gone to see (while living in Nashville, Tenn. while my dad was in school there) to tell me the facts of life. She interpreted this movie as Orson Welles not wanting to return because he had been injured sexually. She didn't say this exactly, but chose that moment to indicate why hustands and wives loved each other...the sex. I simply cannot watch this movie because of this, although, thank God, I have had a lovely marriage with great kids and grandkids. How's that for an answer?

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[deleted]



Hemingway covers this same ground in THE SUN ALSO RISES book & film.







- - SoundTrak

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You nailed it. There's no visible disfigurement that would prevent him from returning. See also"The Sun Also Rises" and "The Barefoot Contessa"

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This did remind me of the Barefoot contessa. It wasn't my first thought though, but I couldn't understand why a crippled leg would keep John from coming home.

"Darn that dream and bless it too.
Without that dream I'd never have you."

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Except that when he is in the hospital his face is entirely enclosed in a plaster cast, which suggests there was at least some physical disfigurement that was hidden by his beard in later life. When they first meet upon his return, she does not realize he is John. That only gradually dawns on her as he becomes more involved with the family.

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I see Orson wore his false nose in the beginning of the film. Later, when he returned he had his own nose. He was so badly injured in the war face wise and body wise so he did not want to take his badly broken body back to his wife. He said he wanted to die when he was in hospital. I love this movie and it always makes me cry when I see it. I have my own copy of it. How happy and proud he was when he learned that Drew was his own son and I know that he brought the child back to give her to his wife. When he saw that she had such a good life, he did not want her to know it was him. Beautiful movie. I absolutely love Orson Welles and of course Claudette Colbert and not to forget the darling Natalie Wood.

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hallo. quite liked reading everyones opinion on this moving film. found this to be a great film but i must say i think it a bit odd and unfair to claudette colberts character that he would make the decision to cut his ties with her. i daresay if he returned to his wife once he was out of hospital, life would have been a struggle for her to care for him but if they loved each other i would think that is what matters? tho i daresay if he had returned home natalie woods character would have been worse off.

cheers.

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Very well spotted, that, hoferPM-1. Only today i saw this and heard of it for the first time. It is truly a Gem, and beautifully done. ...Extraordinary film, this. ....

(There's no confusion, actually; just takes a bit of thought and subtle reflection...)

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After watching this movie for the first time in a while, I think your mother was very correct in her interpretation: The real reason the Welles character didn't want to return to his wife was because his sex organs were injured or destroyed.

It's very, very subtle (obviously because of the censorship at the time), but the suggestion IS there. I finally got it in the scene in front of the old house where the Colbert character says something about him being "ashamed" of his disability, and also in the later scene in the living room, when the Welles character says he would not want to come back to his wife "less than a whole man", or something like that.

Looking at the story from that perspective, that would be a much stronger reason as to why the Welles character at first wanted to die and would not want to return to his wife.

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[deleted]

A few observations:

I think Kessler did Elizabeth a great disservice not admitting he was John at the end, after he brought Drew home and was very ill. I don't think he would have let her disrupt her life (if he had lived), he would have told her that she belonged where she was. However, it would have been closure for them both.

Also, I would like to think that when someone cleaned up the room where he died, they found the partially burnt letter, recognized who wrote it and gave it to Elizabeth, and then she would have known. I wish they had ended it that way, at least. He was gone, so he would have been no threat to Hamilton.

It might also have been a disservice to Drew to not tell him about his parentage, but at the same time, given his reaction to having to leave the train station, he might not have been able to handle it.

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It's clear that John (Welles) is a fine figure of a man -- bright, intelligent and in a good profession. The war broke him as it did (and still does) many others, not only physically but emotionally as well (the scars that can't be seen). That's what war does, and for many it's simply not possible to 'reset' your mind to life as it was before. Every day we see it in the wounded warriors who return home from life in another world,and have a very difficult time even if their physical wounds can be healed. This film was made in the 1940s and was meant, I think, to lightly touch the surface of how war ravages everybody -- the warrior, the children (little Margaret who lost her parents and was adopted by John/Kessler); widows (some with children) trying to cope and rebuild their lives. John/Kessler, despite his predicament, turns out to be a noble if doomed character by persuading Elizabeth to turn her eyes away from the past and toward the future.

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You make a good point. Perhaps John was right in having Elizabeth look forward, but it's still so sad.

I realize there are many people who suffer in war, but I am glad THIS was just a movie.

Why do people watch movies they know will be sad? Especially more than once, and then get just as sad all over again? But that's a thought for another thread, I guess.

Thanks for replying.

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gema6 writes: Why do people watch movies they know will be sad? Especially more than once, and then get just as sad all over again?


It's called catharsis. Watching a sad movie allow people to vent our feelings of sadness and other emotions. The release of tears can have a beneficial effect. I think it's wonderful when we can count on a film or even episodes of a TV series to unleash those tears. There's so much in life that might call for that response, but, for one reason or another, we're not supposed to cry then.

I think it shows how human we are, not a being who can shrug it off and think, "Big deal!" "What's the fuss?" We are touched. It's the same way with movies that make us feel happy and make us laugh; then, there are the dreamy romances.

From Wikipedia:
Catharsis (from the Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning "purification" or "cleansing") is the purification and purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration. It is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics, comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body.

Some stories allow us to have a "good cry". And, we often return to them for that feeling. Often, people use movies to "get it out of their system", whether it's being sad, needing to be cheered up, sharing misery, etc. Even many men will admit to getting teary-eyed over the TV film "Brian's Song", but they go back to it repeatedly. *smiles*


(W)hat are we without our dreams?
Making sure our fantasies
Do not overpower our realities. ~ RC

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@gema6.

I had predicted that the letter would be found and given to Elizabeth. I agree with you that this would have been a better ending.

A great movie in spite of the very hard to swallow coincidence. He comes to the U.S. as a Chemist Specialist and the wife of his employer just happens to be his WIFE. Wow!

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War horribly disfigured him. His face was gone, he was afraid his leg and arm were permanently disabled. He needed years of rehab and he did not want to put that burden on his wife. Good point that his genitals were probably gone too. His wife was young, sexy and smart and she would have given up a great life to nurse him 24/7. No real man can wish that on someone they love.

He comes back to Baltimore and sees she moved on and is grateful. It winds up that she has a great husband, two great boys and a luxurious life style. Exactly what he prayed for for her. She is the typical person, who wants more. She looks back on her life and figures that if things were different she could have a great husband, two great boys and a luxurious life style. What a fool these mortals be! Her husband sets her straight. Quit looking at the past and see how great the future is, because tomorrow is forever.

He dies knowing he made a positive difference in the world (Claudette, Richard and Natalie), even with the horrible cards he was dealt.

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"His face was gone".

Idk, Welles just seemed to have a few scalpel scratches, wore a beard and an older man' s makeup. Coupled with the fact that his voice was still the same despite the accent he put on, I'm surprised his wife didn't recognise him more or less immediately.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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You can tell John/Kessler knew Elizabeth was his wife by the shocked look on his face when he first sees her on the staircase.

Also, when he goes home after learning Drew is his son, he reads a letter from Elizabeth stating she had special news for him (her pregnancy).

I first saw this movie when I was a child and didn't figure out John knew Elizabeth was his wife until I was an adult.

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