When the Lights Go On Again (1944)
The hometown life of a young soldier suffering from shellshock amnesia is revealed in flashback.
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Don't listen to the negative reviews
Best movie ever!
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Although When The Lights Go On Again is your usual anemic PRC film this one is if not a diamond, it's a garnet stone in that rough. It's a very sweet story about a young Marine who gets post traumatic stress, then called combat fatigue and his family.Young Jimmy Lydon has been cleared for furlough after seeing action at Guadalcanal. In Kansas City on his way to his small town he gets into a traffic accident and sustains a concussion which causes amnesia.Fortunately his plight is recognized by newspaper reporter Regis Toomey who accompanies him back home and prepares the way. Just before Pearl Harbor Lydon married Barbara Belden and now she and his parents have to reacquaint him with his own world.There's some drama there too. Lydon worked for Harry Shannon who ran the small town weekly and was politically opposed to Lydon's father Grant Mitchell. A nice Romeo and Juliet situation except that Romeo has been taken in by the Capulets.PRC may have one of its best films in this simple war time drama. Lydon and Belden are an attractive pair and the cast of veteran character players give them great support. It's a sweet story, don't miss it if it is broadcast.