THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU

US, 1944, 98 minutes, Black and white.
Dennis Morgan, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark, Hope Emerson, Beulah Bondi.
Directed by Delmer Daves.

The Very Thought of You, like many of the films of the 40s, took its name from a popular song. This is a piece of romantic war propaganda, with Warner Bros. stars Dennis Morgan and the emerging, Eleanor Parker. The film treats an American family, Americans away at war, the absences, service in action, the hopes that the war7 would end and a new America emerge. Other films of the period on this theme include Since You Went Away, I'll Be Seeing You. The film was written and directed by Delmer Daves, writer of some war propaganda material of this period but who moved into westerns (with Broken Arrow) in the 50s and made a number of very popular romantic melodramas like A Summer Place in the 60s.

1. Entertaining war propaganda? Romantic drama? A film of the 40s? In retrospect?

2. Black and white photography, Warner Bros. production, the settings, the stars, the musical score?

3. The title, the romantic song, the atmosphere of absences in Hawaii?

4. David and his friend, service in the Aleutians, the return to California, leave. friends? David and his meeting Janet? Going out together, visiting the home, the family clashes? The romance, the wedding? Janet pregnant? Overseas service - and his return? David as the all American hero, in active service. his relationships. friendships? The hope for the future?

5. Janet, the home town girl, with her family, clashes with her sisters, her mother and father? Meeting David on the bus, remembering him? Going out? Courtship, the marriage, pregnancy, his absence? Family resolution of differences? A future?

6. Dane Clark as the buddy, the typical American friend? Supporting David. to Pasadena, the girl friend? His attitude towards life, romance, marriage? The war? His girl friend, friendship with Janet, the romance, marriage?

7. The background of the family? The father and his being genial but strict? The mother and her hostility towards outsiders? The older sister and the clashes? The younger sister and her support? The picture of family life, at home, meals, visitors? The reconciliation? The birth of the baby?

8. Popular American ingredients of war propaganda?