Pride of the Marines (1945)

(On Cable TV, April 2021) While the 1945 release date straddles the line, it’s not entirely true to call Pride of the Marines a post-WW2 film — it was conceived (from a biography), shot and released during the war. But in depicting the adaptation of a soldier blinded in battle and then brought home, there’s certainly a dramatic intent here that goes beyond the propaganda pictures of the war’s earlier years. It’s not quite to the level of The Best Years of our Lives, but there’s clearly an attempt to meld the war picture with an inspiring drama, even as the country was sobering up to the reality of disabled veterans coming back home at a time when victory seemed more certain than ever. The star of the film is John Garfield, whose performance carries the film from romantic innocent to depressed war wounded. Pride of the Marines is close to melodrama but not quite one, lending it a more absorbing quality than expected. It’s a more sobering war film than usual, but not a depressing one.