Too many fans seem to be blown away

One of my all time favorites.

Excellent, a Must See

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

There is not a single genuine New Zealand accent to be heard in the whole movie. A couple of actors sounded sort-of Australian.I guess most Americans wouldn't know a New Zealand accent if they fell over one anyway...This seriously impacted the authenticity of the movie for me.Otherwise the movie is very poignant and enjoyable. As an aside, I found it somehow reassuring to see how ready the women were in those days to jump into bed with American servicemen.This is all I have to say to make up my compulsory ten lines.

When this film was made in the 1950s it was a shocker. Clearly daring for its time, it's now tame, to say the least. Paul Newman is handsome and gives his typical outstanding performance. He's a Marine officer and a gentleman, torn with his desire to have sex with Jean Simmons or not to have sex with her. Simmons wants to have sex because she hasn't seen a man in 30 months. The film paints females of all ages as "ready, willing, and able," to jump in bed with a man in uniform if 30 months go by. The rest of the cast is fair, and some are wooden and over-the-top. Combat deaths are mourned for a minute, and the widows are quick to forget. Until They Sail is out-dated, but if you're a Jean Simmons or Paul Newman fan, it's a good rainy night movie.

This is not the most spectacular "women in war" movie ever made, but Robert Wise didn't disappoint either.The focus of this film is on Jean Simmons, which was a little disappointing for me because I watched it for Joan Fontaine. Her screen time is pretty much focused into a 20 minutes sequence showing Anne falling in love in Dick (Richard Bates), him shipping off to Tawara, ending with the despair on her face when Paul Newman told her that causality list is still top-secret. To top it off, the script annoyingly turned Anne's tragedy into a happy ending - having Anne receiving telegram and a large sum of money from her mother-in-law, a congressman writing to the Marines demanding that she be sent back as royalties. The audience is led to believe that Dick was from a good, wealthy family and Anne and her little boy will live happily ever after. If you want to see a more realistic look on how the foreign war brides adjust to their American life without their husbands, I recommend Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth".The best developed story line is of course the relationship between Paul Newman's Jack and Jean Simmons's Barbara. It's a gentle but thoughtful criticism of the war marriages of 1940's, which Hollywood was beginning to examine during the 50's. And the film took its time bring them together, which makes the feelings Jack and Barbara have for each other more believable than that of Anne and Dick's. Again, I would have liked it better if they didn't end up together. But then, these four girls have been through so much.....and it never hurts to look into those blue eyes of Mr. Newman's as he says "I don't love you" (yeah right!)

I have to admit, when I first heard of this film, I didn't think it would keep my interest or attention. The casting, albeit comprised of talented performers, seemed a little odd: 40 year old Fontaine and 13 year old Sandra Dee as sisters sounds a little far fetched, but the pairing actually plays out believably on screen. The age difference translates into a believable mother/daughter type of sisterly relationship, which is appropriate since Fontaine's character has been left to tend to her three sisters after her parents' death.Preconceived notions aside, the story is a compelling one, centering around four sisters in WWII New Zealand. Fontaine, Dee, Jean Simmons, and Piper Laurie all turn in admirable performances as the Lesley sisters in a plot that can sometimes seem a little implausible, or at the very least, ahead of it's time. Paul Newman also co-stars as a Marine officer who plays a pivotal role in the lives of the sisters, namely Simmons' character.Not the best role of any of the principal actors' careers, but definitely worth seeing, especially if you are drawn to WWII era dramas.