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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"I'll Be Seeing You" is a
bittersweet melodrama about a female convict, Mary
Marshall (Ginger Rogers) who is released from the
state penitentiary on a Christmas leave.
Boarding a westbound train, Mary meets Zachary
Morgan (Joseph Cotten) an army sergeant who has
just been released from a mental hospital. The two
develop an affinity for one another on their
journey, so much so that, after learning he'll be
spending Christmas alone, Mary invites Zach to her
place for dinner.
The unlikely romance that blossoms between these
two is both tragic and poignant. Mary keeps her
incarceration a secret and Zach does his best to
conceal the fact that he is a man with more than
his share of psychological problems.
Ultimately the story dissolves into the sort of
treacle one might expect from war time schlock and
nonsense, but it's central performances are so
solid and poignant that one easily overlooks the
implausibility of it all and has a tear jerking,
heart-rending good cry and smile through it all.
MGM's DVD is impressive. The B&W picture exhibits
a very nicely balanced grayscale with smooth,
solid blacks and very clean whites. Age-related
artifacts are present throughout but do not
distract. Some minor edge enhancement crops up and
there is more than a hint of pixelization in
infrequent spots but overall the picture will
surely not disappoint. The audio is mono but more
than adequate for a film of this vintage. There
are no extras. |
