Product Description

During World War I, small-town girl Josephine Norris has an illegitimate son by an itinerant pilot. After a scheme to adopt him ends up giving him to another family, she devotes her life to loving him from afar.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #125831 in DVD
• Formats: Black & White, NTSC
• Running time: 122 minutes

Customer Reviews

One to remember for all time
If I had to refer one oldie on black and white film it would be this one. It's a tear-jerker that grasps the heart, with Olivia de Haviland as an unwed mother who tries to keep her child a secret, but the plan to keep him and conceal his identity backfires, leaving her to remain always in the background watching him grow up. It was a time when having a child outside of marriage was unthinkable and the history of the time is accurate. I can't say another word or it will spoil the whole thing. I think they should put this on DVD so that it can be preserved among other fine films of the 40's.

A gem indeed, but not lost
This is a beautiful story told through a film that boasts great acting, fabulous costuming, and, especially, really well-done directing. It can seem a bit like a soap opera at points, but the general setting and direction make up for it, for it is as entertaining as it is touching, and carried away an Academy Award, one for Olivia deHavilland as Best Actress, and was nominated for Charles Brackett for Best Writer, Original Story.

For more and better reviews than this DVD page has, look under Amazon's VHS listing for this title.

A Lost Gem!
I saw this movie on TV in London. The first scene had Olivia DeHavilland on a rooftop doing bomb watch in London during the blitz. Since the Iraq war had just begun days before, I realized I was in London during a time of war, too.

I was just like Olivia! So I stayed glued to the TV, even though it began at 2 a.m.

The story unfolds into a complex tale of self-sacrifice and a woman's love for her son--even if it must mean her son never knows she is, in fact, his mother.

I uncovered an old review of this film afterward; it wasn't ever a huge theatrical success mostly, it was believed, because the title of the movie just bored people to tears.

But it's truly a great movie. Olivia DeHavilland was superb, and the film was fascinating from beginning to end.

We require this on DVD.