Storyline

In a typical American Midwestern city, Hartfield, Iowa, Lew Marsh (Don Ameche) is the owner of a drugstore. Everyone knows Lew and knew his grandfather, old "Gramp" Marsh (Harry Carey), who had passed on. One evening, Lew and his wife, Agnes (Frances Dee), reminisce lovingly about their son, "Rusty" (Richard Crane), when a telegram arrives from the Navy Department informing them that "Rusty" had been killed in action. Lew becomes bitter, avoids people, refuses to go near the family drugstore. "Gramp" appears before Lew and takes him in hand and together, they revisit the past: Lew's childhood; "Gramp" as a Civil War veteran; Lew's courtship of Agnes; the birth of "Rusty"; Lew as a WWI soldier; Rusty's boyhood days and into his attempt to decide between Lenore Prentiss and Gretchen Barry, and how Lenore becomes his girl just before he joins the Navy. This excursion into the past takes away Lew's bitterness and he now sees what America means.—Les Adams

Plot Keywords

drugstore, hallucination, flashback, despair, clarinet, church, cemetery, bus, bus station, barbed wire fence, axe, apparition, grief, world war two, hymn, telegram, killed in action, iowa, wedding, train

Short Review

The film would be more effective had The Human Comedy not already touched on the same theme. Even so, the film is good. [Full review in Spanish]

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership