I have watched this movie before and I have the Amazon ebook. Recently re-read the book again, skipping some of the details to focus on the nitty-gritty. The two formats present a somewhat different way of looking at the same story. I was looking for the differences and found that the conversation of our Charles Rainier with the tobacconist was stream-lined a little - nothing wrong with that; and the conversations at the house in Stourton about Charles reappearing and the will his father left were also edited down. The directors had to save some time somewhere, I know but the viewer lost out on some of the humourous posturing of Rainier's silly, selfish siblings - as they insisted they must include him in the inheritence but then were so disappointed when he finally caved in and accepted - though we know he truly did not care about the money. And the shortened scene at the tobacconist shop took out Charles' stammering and facial contortions as he tried to speak. Little things but they made the discerning reader more appreciative of the great comeback that Rainier really made - and would not have made without Paula's unconditional love.
As I watched the movie I was mentally filling in some of these missing data and it did nothing but add to the appreciation of the movie for me.
Greer Garson was beautiful and completely charming to me. I could believe that in the movie and the book it was she who made Rainier - got him onto his feet, with patience and encouragement and faith in him, until he was able to make it on his own and then continued to guide his career.
Rainier was "blown up" in the war in 1917, losing much of his mental abilities including his memory.
Colman was injured in combat in that war and he played his part well. Initially a shell-shocked veteran and ultimately a successful businessman and politician. And the difference between him and so many other victims of the victorious war against the evil Hun was the girl: Paula Ridgeway=Greer Garson.
I was in Viet Nam in 1969-70 and got a purple heart, thanks to a random piece of shrapnel that stuck in my face above my lip during a fire-fight. I have P.T.S.D. and I certainly relate to what Rainier=Colman went through and . I have memory loss - though not as dramatic as Rainier's, but possibly worse in that I forget the simple, immediate things every day and it ruins many of my days. ANd I fall into stammering and stuttering when confronted with a confusing situation and I often still feel like I am back in the war like Rainier did when things get crazy around me and I don't have the confidence to believe I can handle things.
Difference between me and Rainier was: the adorable Paula and her enduring love.
Other reviewers have emphasized that the time element was very different between the book and the movie, i.e. the movie stays chronological and the book jumps from one period of time to another though both have flashbacks.
In the film, Rainer first gains back his abilities to speak properly and then his present-memory and finally his memory of the lost years with Paula.
Reviewers have stated that the viewing audience would not relate to the mental effort of following the plot jumping from one time period to another, remembering what Rainier's state of mind at each part.
The audience needed to be told clearly what was happening.
Garson's acting was superb. From the vivacious, loveable, talented gushing, happy young singer-dancer-actress in the beginning to the dutiful, competent, devoted secretary, always loving her man. I was uplifted by her optimism and her joy in shell-shocked Rainier's little achievements in getting it together. And I marvelled at her poise and her complete focus on Rainier the business tycoon as she fed him little bits of info about the past and watched breathless to see if more of his memory came back... and I appreciated her composure as she walked with dignity from him into her own room - to fall to pieces in private because her love was not recognized by him. My heart ached.
Colman gives us the typical educated upper-class Britisher - dignified, confident, poised. But he is also sincere and - in his own way - caring for the thousands of families that are making it because his factories provide decent jobs and - presumably - decent wages. The man has integrity and lacks snobbishness. ANd he has Paula.
We also get to see the every-day decent, hard-working British commoners who had the resilience to make it through the coming blitz, the ever day hell of screaming death from the skies.
And then the end: I had to watch it slowly over again - and read it over again - though I knew all the words by heart - as Rainier puts the last of the pieces of his mind together and realizes that everything he has been searching for is there in front of him. He has Paula.
I have my disability allowance and my chromebook to watch Amazon movies on.
Maybe in the end it is true that all we really have is love - or - for some of us - all we really needed was love.
The time-frame for the story was 1918 to 1939 and the movie was made in 1942.
For younger people. born after the 1960's, I know the movie is just an old black-and-white film. You will not relate to the thrill it was to see Greer Garson's legs as she danced in an early scene, though the extras, watching her being filmed got all excited and rushed onto the stage.
And many of you cannot relate to being so spaced out, as Rainier was at times, like when Kitty asked him if he liked the music she had chosen for their proposed wedding - and he did not know her for a moment because he was lost in space. I have been there.
So? It is not for everyone. But for me, this it beings tears to my eyes.
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