Till the End of Time

Till the End of Time (1946)

Runtime: 105 minutes

Directed by: Edward Dmytryk

Starring: Dorothy McGuire, Robert Mitchum, Guy Madison, Bill Williams, Tom Tully

From: RKO

For those that love 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives… Till the End of Time is quite similar yet I did not know of this picture until it played on Turner Classic Movies several days ago. How ironic that the author of the book this was based on (Niven Busch) was married to Teresa Wright, who of course had a prominent role in Lives.

Both covered several members of the military returning home from World War II and the struggles they faced adjusting to a world that was both familiar and different-changes happened while they were away and the soldiers changed themselves during their time in service. While Lives featured more than one branch of the armed forces, Time was devoted to several Marines, although the focus was on Guy Madison’s Cliff Harper. Both featured issues that likely are relevant to members of the military in 2025. I’m not sure how many have metal plates in their heads (Robert Mitchum’s character did!) but there’s confusion over their future, attempting to find work, an amputee, and in the most memorable scene, someone was suffering from “the shakes”… what we know now as PTSD.

While The Best Years of Our Lives was a lavish MGM production that earned seven Oscars, Time was a modest RKO affair that is mostly forgotten today. It doesn’t mean that this movie isn’t worthwhile. It was a pretty good effort which was successful in expressing some problems that those in the military could face once returning to civilian life. Plenty of time is spent with Dorothy McGuire as a war widow who of course gets to know Cliff Harper; that was an interesting angle. It’s always nice seeing Mitchum and furthermore, the title song became a huge hit for Perry Como.

An unfortunate example of how the film is still relevant today; there’s a group devoted to war veterans; they call themselves “patriots.” Those not from the United States, the self-professed patriots here are like the ones we have in America now who use that label-meaning those prejudiced folks are villains to me and most Letterboxd members. The more things change…