There is a tendency to view the past as being simpler.  It is a symptom of our collective selfishness, centered on what is directly in front of our faces, to think that our current problems are of vastly greater importance and intricacy than any other point in time.  These problematic stereotypes (though, is there ever a non-problematic one?) are compounded when we consider the World War II era.  Also known as the “Greatest Generation,” despite their being a globe spanning conflict going on, we often see them through nostalgic lenses.  It should be added to these ideas that traditions like Catholicism were considered of greater importance back then, a concept with which I take issue.  Another example would be romance.  There were a number of marriages that came about as a result of boy going off to war meeting girl bound to stay home, and them being wedded after mere days of knowing one another, if it took that long.  Those involved in these whirlwind relationships, we believe, were uncomplicated people being swept up in the moment.  Like any generalization, there are some instances of these things happening.  Yet, this is why we need to appreciate a film like I’ll Be Seeing You(1944) and its refreshingly honest take on scenarios with which people living in the 1940s would have been familiar with, much more so than us today.  I hope what I describe to you will get you interested in seeing it.

At Christmas time, there are a lot of people fulfilling their promises of I’ll Be Seeing You, and Mary Marshall (Ginger Rogers) is one of them.  The train she boards and the seat she takes is shared by Sergeant Zachary Morgan (Joseph Cotten).  We see them in the station earlier and we can tell there is something off about them.  As such, it is of little surprise that they keep to themselves rather than interacting with the other two more rambunctious soldiers adjacent to them.  It is when the others leave that they begin to speak to each other.  She says that she is stopping in Pinehill to visit her Aunt Sarah (Spring Byington) and Uncle Henry Marshall (Tom Tully) for the holidays.  He claims to have a sister in Pinehill and will be getting off in the same place.  Once there, before they depart, they finally exchange names and Sergeant Morgan promises to call Barbara.  It is when they get to their destinations that we learn the source of their angst.  With Sergeant Morgan, we witness him take out a room at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), demonstrating that there is no relative in town.  He is also having trouble focusing because he has been wounded in combat.  Despite being physically healed, mental wounds remain, what we would today call post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  For Mary, it is the fact that she is serving time in prison, having been let out for a Christmas furlough.  Uncle Henry and Aunt Sarah are welcoming, understanding that Mary is not really a criminal.  It is their curious but friendly seventeen-year-old daughter, Barbara Marshall (Shirley Temple), who does not know the specifics of the incarceration.  For organization’s sake, I will take care of the flashback now that explains Mary’s case.  A few years previous while working as a secretary, she had been invited to a party at her boss’s swanky apartment.  Upon arrival, she discovers that it had been intended for just the two of them, and he has already had several drinks.  Before she can make a hasty retreat, he attacks her.  He is accidentally pushed out the fourteenth story window, and she is charged with manslaughter.  With this in mind, you can see why she might not be completely forthcoming with Sergeant Morgan, even if he lets on the next day that he had made up a sister to get off the train with her.  This revelation is shared before they sit down to have dinner with the rest of the family, something he appreciates being raised as an orphan.  They continue to go out while she keeps her secret, and they see each other every day despite his evident problems with socializing.  He soon explains his wounds, mental and physical, and how he had been granted leave from a United States Army hospital in order to give being out in public a try.  The more time they spend in each other’s company, the more they fall in love, which makes it harder for Mary to remain in the lie of being a traveling saleswoman.  Aunt Sarah preaches nonchalance, saying that Mary is to have as normal a time as possible while on her temporary release.  Mary does not quite agree, but she goes along it.  It becomes harder when they kiss on Christmas following her first abortive attempt to tell him the truth.  Instead, she accepts his request that they attend the YMCA New Year’s Eve party together.  Hey, times were different during World War II.  On the heels of a wonderful night, and with him departing the next day, he tells her that he loves her.  In the morning, he comes to say goodbye to Mary’s family, and this is when Barbara inadvertently tells Sergeant Morgan about Mary’s sentence.  This makes for a tense trip to the station, and a stoic Sergeant Morgan boards the train with a simple peck on the cheek.  Mary returns to her aunt and uncle’s house to learn of Barbara’s innocent mistake.  Seeing any hope fade that Mary might have had during her last few years behind bars, she returns to her jail.  Before she can enter, she notices Sergeant Morgan standing outside the entrance.  They make amends, kiss, and he walks her the rest of the way as the film ends.

If I did not convey it enough in my synopsis, I’ll Be Seeing You is a short but sweet movie.  In the strictest Christian sense, you can have a marred view of the proceedings by lamenting the fact that Mary did not immediately admit her guilt, or lack thereof.  Any relationship, particularly one built in the course of a little over a week, needs trust.  It is even more vitally important when it comes to your interactions with God.  Many criticize those that practice the Faith, wondering what is the point of communicating with God when He already knows everything.  The Church would argue that just because of His omnipresence, it does not mean that we should give up on speaking to your Creator.  This requires openness, but hopefully you can sympathize with Mary’s reticence.  Sergeant Morgan has the grace to admit his faults, and it is understandable that he would be hurt when he finally learns the truth.  What makes them both great is that they forgive one another.  With that forgiveness comes a choosing of that person despite their faults, which is what God does for us every time we return to Him.  The sequence just described also underscores another important point in the film.  Mary develops this dream scenario where she does not reveal the fact that she is serving time.  Sergeant Morgan returns to the army, they continue to write one another, and then maybe someday they would be together.  In discussing these aspirations with Aunt Sarah, her older relative informs Mary that often our dreams prove impossible, but it is still good to have them.  What we need to learn is to be happy with plan B.  There is a lot of wisdom that we can learn from this as Christians.  What we want, though respected by God and should be said to Him, is not always what He wants for us.  There is a lot of peace in accepting this truth and His will, especially if you find the woman you love and in spite of her incarceration.

I’ll Be Seeing You was a commercial success, and you can see the appeal, based on my description, for a nation at war.  There was also a famous song of the same name, covered by all the crooners of the day.  Finally, it has a teenaged Shirley Temple in one of her final roles.  She went into politics after this, but she will always be remembered as the original Hollywood child star.  All this adds up to a strong recommendation.