The Guilt of Janet Ames

This movie started with such promise...then....yuck! It begins with a wonderful premise. Rosalind Russell plays a woman who is seeking out five men that lived due to her husband's sacrifice during WWII. He died so these five men might live. However, what exactly she plans on doing when she sees all of them is unknown, as she is hit by a vehicle while crossing the street to see the first man! An alcoholic news reporter (Melvyn Douglas) learns about this accident. However, his decision to see the injured lady is because he was one of the five names on her list--as he'd been saved by her husband. So far...a wonderful premise.

When Douglas enters the hospital, the film starts to go downhill. First, the doctor firmly declares that Russell is able to walk--even though she insists she can't. This is odd, as she seems to have just been brought in to the hospital after the accident--and yet the nasty doctor yells at her and tells her she is okay! This might have made sense if she'd been in the hospital a few days--plus despite being hit by a car, she seems to have no injuries!! But, it gets worse, as with Douglas' help and a few pills, Russell starts to have out of the body experiences where she magically meets the families of the five men who were saved--and sees how their lives impacted the lives about them. Seeing the extended impact of the man's sacrifice is a nice idea--but doing an out of the body traveling gimmick really was dumb. It came off as preachy...very, very preachy.

Now I am NOT insensitive to the sacrifices made by people in war. And, I do appreciate the other reviewer, as the film was very personally touching to them. But it just came off as too weird, too contrived and silly--when, using the same basic story idea, it could have been wonderful. Too bad...I think the film makers' intentions were good--but the script was just strange and, at times, a bit ridiculous.