SYNOPSIS: A lonely young war widow (Jane Russell) finds happiness with another serviceman (Louis Hayward).
NOTES: Russell's movie debut in New York, where "The Outlaw" (1942) was still unreleased. COMMENT: Although starring Jane Russell ("The World's Most Exciting Brunette!" the credit titles inform us), and actually produced in 1946 when the war was well and truly over, this is one of those cozy little domestic keep-the-home-fires-burning pieces about a young widow who is romanced by a handsome young flyer.
True, Russell looks lovely, but she's hardly the sexpot the advertising promises. Nonetheless, she handles the emoting more convincingly than you might expect. Admittedly, her main forte here is to look sorrowful and becomingly demure (which she does. Even her clothes were deliberately designed to give her a churchy rather than a hoydenish air).
As a pilot with his mind solely on the chase, Louis Hayward comes across with his usual breezy aplomb. Kent Smith essays a minor role as "the other man". Penny Singleton (though straighter and more dramatic here than in her Blondie roles) and Marie Wilson are along mainly for comic relief. James Burke and Walter Baldwin contribute their usual capable cameos.
Young Widow is a women's picture through and through, superficially slick and glossy, elegantly dressed, and tied to a plot which never breaks out of the mould into any byways that are imaginative, daring or different. True, the additional dialogue seems a bit more literate and inventive than the average soapie, but otherwise the writing is as thoroughly routine and conventional as Edwin L. Marin's nondescript direction.
The movie's chief assets are its beautifully photographed locations. In fact the cinematography's rich blacks and sparkling grays lend the whole picture a polish rare in independent productions. (Remisoff's attractive sets are a big help too). Indeed, the film's high production values are a credit to ex-MGM producer, Hunt Stromberg.
NOTES: Russell's movie debut in New York, where "The Outlaw" (1942) was still unreleased. COMMENT: Although starring Jane Russell ("The World's Most Exciting Brunette!" the credit titles inform us), and actually produced in 1946 when the war was well and truly over, this is one of those cozy little domestic keep-the-home-fires-burning pieces about a young widow who is romanced by a handsome young flyer.
True, Russell looks lovely, but she's hardly the sexpot the advertising promises. Nonetheless, she handles the emoting more convincingly than you might expect. Admittedly, her main forte here is to look sorrowful and becomingly demure (which she does. Even her clothes were deliberately designed to give her a churchy rather than a hoydenish air).
As a pilot with his mind solely on the chase, Louis Hayward comes across with his usual breezy aplomb. Kent Smith essays a minor role as "the other man". Penny Singleton (though straighter and more dramatic here than in her Blondie roles) and Marie Wilson are along mainly for comic relief. James Burke and Walter Baldwin contribute their usual capable cameos.
Young Widow is a women's picture through and through, superficially slick and glossy, elegantly dressed, and tied to a plot which never breaks out of the mould into any byways that are imaginative, daring or different. True, the additional dialogue seems a bit more literate and inventive than the average soapie, but otherwise the writing is as thoroughly routine and conventional as Edwin L. Marin's nondescript direction.
The movie's chief assets are its beautifully photographed locations. In fact the cinematography's rich blacks and sparkling grays lend the whole picture a polish rare in independent productions. (Remisoff's attractive sets are a big help too). Indeed, the film's high production values are a credit to ex-MGM producer, Hunt Stromberg.