Fantastic!

Disturbing yet enthralling

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The advantages and disadvantages of television's bill of divorcement from history and chronology are very evident on a recent viewing of Homecoming. It doesn't matter much anymore that the film re-unites Gable and Turner who literally set the screen afire on their previous outing, "Somewhere III Find You", six years earlier. The romance is strong, but much more muted. Turner doesn't come on for at least half-an-hour and it's an equal length of time after that before the first silhouetted embrace. All that doesn't matter any more. Nor is it worth knowing that contemporary critics poured scorn on the movie, whereas the public loved it. What we have now is only the movie itself - divorced from history, from all the cries of studio publicity, from the derision of contemporary reviewers, and even from the word-of-mouth of acquaintances and friends.Actually, the film stands up rather well. True, the story is as artificially ' contrived as they come, but I found it both moving and engrossing - despite the feeling that it is scripted and directed with occasional too-obvious clumsiness and heavy-handedness. Gable is excellent - a strongly charismatic personality, playing with conviction and sincerity. Turner - in what is undoubtedly her least glamorous role - plays with unusual naturalness and professionalism. It is probably the most convincing performance of her career. The character is well-written. By contrast, Baxter seems artificial and too sweet. Hodiak makes the most of his big scene with Gable early in the film (effectively shot all in one take), but thereafter - like most of the support players who exist merely to provide cues and background - has little to do.All in all, "Homecoming" is big-budget screen entertainment - directed and produced with considerable style and expertise - that wears rather well, thanks to the magnetism of its stars, the appositeness of its dialogue and the realities of its plot.

In terms of traditionally popular American films, I cannot say this is a great film. Yet, I can say that I am very impressed by it. What I mean is that this is, in reality, a totally serious film effort. It is not soapy, it is not (for the most part) exciting. It is a serious story of a man who meets a woman and falls in love, knowing that after the war he will return home to his wife.It has been said that World War II changed Clark Gable. And this is a very different Clark Gable from the one we got used to in the 1930s. Here he is something he never was back then -- subtle. His performance here is very steady, very calm, very mature...and speaking of mature, he certainly looks older here. It is a testament to his acting ability that he is totally believable as a surgeon in this film.When I was young I always felt that the two most beautiful women in the world were Sophia Loren and Lana Turner. I was stunned years later when I saw Lana Turner do an hour-long interview on one of the daytime talk shows. It wasn't that she was dumb...she was...not a real human being. But, this film is interesting because here she is less beautiful, just rather normal looking, and yet totally convincing in her role as an army nurse.Another treat in watching this movie was discovering John Hodiak. I knew the name, but not the actor. What a shame that he died of a heart attack at such a young age. Great potential. And, Anne Baxter is fine here as the wife.There are many scenes in this film that are rather impressive. Was that real snow in Europe? It was certainly real mud in the jeep scene. High production values here.There were, in my view, to mistakes in the filming of this movie. First, a part of the American town that was described in the film as being almost ghetto-like, appeared rather pleasant when visited by Anne Baxter. But more serious was that after rather deep and divisive discussions between the characters of Gable and Hodiak, toward end of the film the discussion when they are reunited after the war, and where Gable apologizes for his shallowness, in only described briefly by Gable. It could have provided a powerful scene between Gable and Hodiak.If you like an occasional serious film, you will be impressed with this movie. Highly recommended.

2nd viewing and a lot of time in between. Enjoyed it first time especially how Lana pulls her role off and how sincere Gable was. Both great actors always worth watching. Anne Baxter was also very,very touching and deep as the wife.What really got me this time, having spent war time in Nam, was the changes Gable went through and the HOMECOMING. Anyone who has NOT experienced the razor's edge of actual combat, the terror the elation and the horror of seeing others die can feel what Gable projected magnificently in coming home after all that madness and trying to feel like you fit in again anywhere. You don't....for a long time. That why Gable said "...bear with me for a while..." Not only was he talking about losing Lana but returning home from a war, sometimes much more difficult than war itself. This film has so much deep feelings embedded in all three major characters it is amazing to me. The writer nailed it and Mr LeRoy was almost genius in bringing out such performances by all. I'm glad I got to view it on TCM a 2nd time. It really brings out a HOMECOMING!!

Playing against type, Lana Turner forsakes the glamour and produces a sensitive, altogether winning performance. Baggy pants, boots, man's shirt, fatigue cap: a highly efficient, hardworking army nurse, quick to speak her mind, less than tolerant of those who don't share her attitudes. Of course she is softer on the inside, and vulnerable to male sensitivity. Lana makes this challenging role work for her. Gable's character is not helped by fuzzy scripting in regard to his priorities, oversights and degree of self-centerdness, yet this somewhat out-of-focus role is handled adequately. The film itself moves along fairly slowly, downshifting to a crawl during the final twenty minutes as characters deliver a succession of monologues seemingly intended to remind the audience of the picture's intended themes.