The Human Comedy (1943) on Netflix
In Ithaca, California, Homer Macauley delivers telegrams to help support his family. His older brother Marcus is away in the Army, and Willie Grogan is a veteran telegrapher at the office.
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- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.0/102,813 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
In the town of Ithaca, California, the Macauley family has been without its father for two years. The oldest son, Marcus, is a private in the Army, and the middle son, Homer, has taken a job delivering telegrams to keep the household going. His mother and his four-year-old brother Ulysses are at home; his sister Bess goes to the movies with Marcus's fiancée, Mary Arena, and the two of them meet three soldiers on leave. At the office Homer works with Tom Spangler, a track champion, and Willie Grogan, the veteran telegrapher. Tom's girlfriend, Diana Steed, has invited him to meet her parents. One of Homer's telegrams tells a family that a son has been killed in service, and Homer goes home and speaks to his mother about the grim work.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Human Comedy (1943)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- William Saroyan wrote a screenplay he expected to direct for The Human Comedy, but left the project when his 240-page script ran about four hours and he was removed as director; he then turned the script into a best-selling novel published just before the film's release.
- In the film's score, the soldiers' long, rousing train rendition of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" includes one shot that breaks the fourth wall and invites the audience to sing along to the last chorus.
