terrible... so disappointed.

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Crappy film

Blistering performances.

It is unconceivable that TILL THE END OF TIME is not celebrated enough for the excellent, superb film that it is. I am still under its spell, having watched it last evening on a DVD I bought in Italy this winter. It is incredible that Europeans are better able to appreciate this fine film than most Americans, as TILL THE END OF TIME has not yet been made available in DVD format in the United States and was released in VHS over twenty years ago! This is a story about young soldiers that come back home from the war, physically or mentally shattered by their recent experiences and often unable to adjust easily to civilian life. The film portrays their feelings with total honesty and we are transported to 1945 Los Angeles in a way that no other films seem able to do. Edward Dmytryk must be praised for his sensitive direction of the material. Guy Madison is very fine indeed in his role, giving a performance worthy of a young Montgomery Clift. Robert Mitchum, still quite young, made me think of Sean Penn in his rough but ultimately warm, sincere way of connecting with people. Finally, all accolades must go to Dorothy McGuire for her handling of a most difficult part. She is totally convincing as the young, sad widow who is trying to make a new start in life, not knowing exactly how. How brilliant she is here! How wonderful she always was throughout her career! I cannot understand how she never got an Academy Award for her work when several lesser actresses did.

Though Till The End Of Time boasted a hit song which filled the radio airwaves for months after the film was released, seen today it looks a whole lot like a dress rehearsal for The Best Years Of Our Lives. Not that it is a bad film, but Sam Goldwyn did so much better with a very similar plot involving three returning war veterans.In this case we're talking Marines, veterans of the Pacific Theater who have just come home and are trying to readjust to civilian life. At least Guy Madison is all in one piece. He meets up with attractive war widow Dorothy McGuire who's having a much harder time. Her late husband was a flier, the glamor job of the service and just about anyone else doesn't measure up. But Madison has one advantage, he's alive and McGuire is not getting any younger.Till The End Of Time was a followup film for Robert Mitchum who had just had his breakthrough role in The Story Of GI Joe. He plays Madison's best friend, the cowboy of Kwajalein, who talks about getting enough money together for a chicken ranch in New Mexico, but just can't quite get around to ending the partying from being discharged. Mitchum got the most notice from this film and this cemented his number one status at RKO for years.Like The Best Years Of Our Lives this film dealt with three veterans and the third is Bill Williams, later television's Kit Carson, who is a double amputee. Not much call for prize fighters which he was before the war with no legs. Selena Royle is particularly touching in her role as Williams's mother.The acclaim this film got was drowned out by the Goldwyn masterpiece which ironically enough was also released by RKO. But besides Mitchum's performance, the title theme from this picture was a big record hit in 1946. Adapted from Chopin's Polonaise by Ted Mossman and Buddy Kaye, Till The End Of Time gave Perry Como one of his earliest gold records just as he was breaking out as a singer. Doris Day also had a big seller with the Les Brown band.A lot of the plot elements from The Best Years Of Our Lives are found in this film. Served up nicely, but not quite the same flavor, still tasty though.

When I came back from DESERT STORM, my friends had moved, my girlfriend had a new boyfriend, everything I had was gone. It was only a year.When I first saw "Till The End of Time", I was drinking and crying. Then I understood.Clint Eastwood interviewed Vets for his recent movie (the one about Iwo Jimo). One of them, he movingly related, had never been able to form a relationship and start a family.If you watch this movie you'll understand. Just being a war Vet is weird, even if you weren't shot at nor wounded. Physically.Coming back, I couldn't get a job. I never got an interview, even after hundreds of professional resumes. No wanted me. I was alone.Watch this movie. It and "Walk In The Sun" are the best WWII flicks I've ever seen.

I believe that the New York Times once referred to "Till the End of Time" as a "poor man's 'The Best Years of Our Lives.'" Well, I certainly disagree with the Times' almost dismissive opinion of this greatly underrated film. Guy Madison, as Cliff Harper, a troubled, returning U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and Dorothy McGuire, as Pat Ruscomb, a gentle and wistful war widow, were wonderful in their respective roles. As one of the previous posters pointed out, this is a film that definitely strikes a meaningful chord with returning war veterans. I remember watching that incredibly moving scene in the ice skating rink coffee shop with my own father, an infantry veteran of the fighting in North Africa and Europe during World War II. When Cliff and Pat come to the aid of the young soldier (actor Richard Benedict), sitting alone there and obviously undergoing the effects of "shell-shock," my father just sat there quietly, as if he understood completely, what that young G.I. was going through. Director Edward Dmytryk very deftly captured the soldier's angst and Cliff and Pat's selfless act of kindness towards that young veteran. I agree that the film's "barroom brawl" scene/finale is handled in an almost, too-hurried manner. Nevertheless, I think that the film's greatest strength, lies in the extremely appealing and gradually developing romantic relationship between Mr. Madison and Ms. McGuire, who, with those limpid eyes and unbelievably beautiful cheekbones of hers, would make any guy's heart melt in a second (bad hair style or not, notwithstanding!). Maybe it's sounds overly maudlin (as, I believe, Pat playfully says to Cliff, when she first meets him, recounting wartime experiences with one of his old high school buddies in a local tavern), but I predict that you'll find yourself rooting for Pat and Cliff as the film nears its heartfelt conclusion. Kudos to Mr. Madison, and, especially, to the great Ms. Dorothy McGuire for an especially moving and compelling film!