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This is Jane Russell's one serious film, or at least it begins as such, on the brink of turning into a downrightr noir, but then Louis Hayward appears, a man was missing in her life, and here he is. But he doesn't come alone. Along there is a whole bunch of merry war pilots with their girls crowding into the apartment which she has to stay in with a friend for want of vacansies in all hotels in New York, and so it turns into a brilliant, ebullient and very enjoyable comedy.

Many have said that this is Jane Russell's best film, and it couldn't be otherwise. She is as beautiful as Hedy Lamarr and Linda Darnell, and her grief as a widow becomes her more than well and adds to the attraction - Louis Hayward's reactions are perfectly natural and logical.

Still, the serious background remains, many war pilots never return, and they still all have to return to battle. This was made towards the end of the war, but although it is closing on the finish (with bombings of Tokyo), it isn't quite over yet, and the Gerry Taylor subplot stresses the concerns. It's a wonderful film, the dialogue is like crossfire all through but positively witty all the way, and it will be a joy to once return to this film once more.

Young Widow was probably the first time that a lot of the movie-going public actually saw Jane Russell on the screen. With The Outlaw being pulled in and out of circulation for editing and reshooting, it was felt that she ought to do something to keep her name before the public. After all without a movie in circulation there was only so much The Outlaw and all the publicity around Jane's bosoms could do.

This was an independent film from producer Hunt Stromberg who normally worked at MGM. Which was the reason no doubt for the use of the song All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings as a theme which was introduced the year before by Kathryn Grayson in Anchors Aweigh.

But this United Artists film was a romance that was slow and sluggish and quite frankly Jane Russell didn't have the acting chops to pull it off. I could have seen someone like Teresa Wright doing this far better.

Russell is just that a young war widow who hasn't gotten over the death of her husband over Berlin. Despite that she's being given quite the rush by Louis Hayward another member of the Army Air Corps. Another rival is her boss, newspaper publisher Kent Taylor. But he's clearly running second throughout the film.

Though his name is nowhere to be seen, no doubt Howard Hughes was behind this film because of the presence of Faith Domergue in the cast who was another Hughes discovery. She's another widow trying to cope and turns to Russell for help. Given their respective chests the screen could barely contain them.

Jane would have to wait another two years for The Paleface, a really good and funny film to become a genuine movie star.

Others here have already mentioned that Jane Russell was either miscast, or rose to the occasion playing this serious role. I was struck by how much she looked like an earlier obsession of Howard Hughes, Kate Hepburn.

If you think of Katharine playing Sylvia Scarlett, wearing a Fedora and kind of squint, it makes some sense. Jane has her hair pulled back and is barely made up. Her jawline is very similar too. Once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it. Is it an amazing portrayal? Not quite, but Jane is playing with some of Hollywood's best here, and she does pretty well. I'm fond of these "war at home" films, and this is good enough.

And Jane looks great. Too bad she didn't get more opportunities like this.

Joan's deceased husband Barry was an aerial photographer. It is an odd twist that Louis Hayward, who plays Jim Cameron who hopes to become Barry's replacement, was a United States Marine combat photographer, and his work during the invasion of the Japanese-held island of Tarawa earned him a Bronze Star for courage under fire. It seems odd today to see someone offering a woman a cigarette and, when she says no, lighting up anyway without asking if she minds. Hayward smoked 80 a day and died of lung cancer at the age of 75.

Jane Russell looks lovely in this although there is something odd about her mouth when she speaks. I fell in love with her when I was taken to see Son of Paleface when I was six years old.

I was 9 years old when I first saw this movie. I am 64 years old now and I have never forgotten the feeling I had when I saw Young Widow. I was too young to understand the feeling of Love, but it effected me enough that I have never forgotten the movie or the actors and I have not seen Young Widow since 1946.