I'LL BE SEEING YOU: Blu-ray (Selznick International/Vanguard 1944) Kino Lorber

David O. Selznick never thought small. He did, however, straddle the chasm between artistry and commerce rather efficiently; producing hit after hit at virtually all of the major studios in Hollywood throughout the early 1930’s before electing to go it ‘alone’ as an independent producer mid-decade. Alas, being ones’ own boss proved very expensive for a perfectionist like Selznick and, as a result, by the mid-1940’s he was increasingly fighting a losing battle to keep his studio from sinking deeper into the red. In hindsight, Selznick’s folly was his own nature. He needed to be right and, more often than not – he was. This made for an incredible run of profitable pictures. Alas, it also took time and made for some very strange bedfellows, later to become bad enemies along the way. Creatives like Alfred Hitchcock positively abhorred their tenures with Selznick, chiefly because a picture made under his auspices was, in fact, “A David O. Selznick Production”. By 1944, Selznick had split his interests between movies made with his personal stamp of approval (under the Selznick International banner) and others superficially under his control as executive producer, but made far more cheaply for the B-unit offshoot of his production house – Vanguard.

This decision was primarily necessitated by Selznick’s distribution deal with United Artists. UA demanded a steady stream of product for which Selznick was increasingly finding it difficult to keep up while maintaining his usual standards. The war-time weepy, I’ll Be Seeing You (1944) is a prime example of Selznick diversifying his portfolio; modestly budgeted and coming dangerously close to the sort of ‘assembly-line’ programmer made at other studios that had irked Selznick immensely. Selznick, like MGM’s Irving Thalberg before him, had firmly believed in making fewer pictures, but ones so far and above the competition they could not help but attract an audience with their prestige. Eventually, such gambles on ‘landmark’ pictures would do Selznick in. Yet, for the time being, his philosophy seemed to bear itself out with ever-expanding success and an enviable reputation in the industry for quality that equated to profit, in spite of all his lavish expenditures along the way. Apart from immortalizing the Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal pop standard of the same name (previously inserted into a Broadway flop in 1938 that closed after only 15 performances), I’ll Be Seeing You is a poignantly scripted melodrama about two mismatched wanderers come to discover the strengths of their character in a chance meeting, unexpectedly to blossom into romance. It also happens to be the movie that convinced Selznick from now on he would do far better to create ‘package deals’ (stars, scripts and directors) and then sell-off these properties lock, stock and barrel to a rival for a sizable sum and a 50/50 split of the profits.

Although I’ll Be Seeing You opens with Alfred Newman’s iconic Selznick International fanfare, Selznick served only as executive producer, mostly in name only; passing along the lion’s share of responsibility to Dore Schary, whom Selznick greatly admired at the start, but would come to dislike intensely by the end of their brief alliance. Schary was, in fact, not an easy man to favor, perhaps, in part, because he shared something of Selznick’s temperament for getting things done his own way. Also, Schary’s die-hard liberal politics clashed with Selznick’s more conservative views. Selznick always adhered to the policy audiences were coming to the theater to be entertained. Schary, alas, thought a little ‘re-education’ of the masses was in order; a good many of his subsequent pictures invested in delivering ‘a message’ that oft preceded a picture’s entertainment value, prompting Samuel Goldwyn to suggest, “If I want a message, I’ll send it with Western Union.”

Based on Charles Martin’s play, I’ll Be Seeing You is the bittersweet tale of a prison parolee and a shell-shocked soldier finding their second chance at love and life under the unlikeliest of circumstances. The picture stars Ginger Rogers as Mary Marshall, a naïve secretary with one-time aspirations to have become a New York model. In defending herself from the unwanted advances of her inebriated boss (most certainly to have raped her), Mary inadvertently caused his death. For her ‘crime’, she was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six-years in prison; commuted with time off for good behavior. Rogers career as a dramatic star had taken off since her 1939 divorce from glossy musical fluff a la Fred Astaire over at RKO, winning a Best Actress Academy Award for 1940’s Kitty Foyle. While many today debate the validity of both that performance and Rogers’ Oscar-win, there is little to deny she could play smart, sexy and serious, given the right opportunity. In I’ll Be Seeing You, Rogers is more reserved than her usual, taking a cue from director, George Cukor (a close personal friend who also briefly offered uncredited assistance behind-the-scenes on this picture) to hone her craft for the film’s credited director, William Dieterle. Rogers’ intuition translates to a refreshingly adult sense of purpose and reflection. Her Mary has grown up quite a lot in the three years since her incarceration and Rogers plays Mary as a wounded and world-weary creature, not above allowing a bit of homespun optimism to creep in from the peripheries of her reservations about men.          

Rogers’ co-star is amiable Selznick contract player, Joseph Cotten. Having achieved fame in Orson Welles’ RKO production of Citizen Kane (1941) Cotten became a Selznick favorite. His Corp. Zachary Morgan is a man on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Today, we would likely classify Zach’s affliction as PTSD. Cotten underplays this in all but a single scene; Zach’s penultimate denial of his own self-worth, culminating in one of those Hollywood cliché, ‘make or break’ moments capped off by an epiphany surely to set his mind at ease and his heart upon the right path to true love. With very few exceptions, Cotten usually played to his strengths as a good guy; his stoic Virginian upbringing and mellifluous voice a natural for the movies. And Cotten could equally convey an inner sadness as well as menace when called upon to do so. Remember, he was Hitchcock’s first choice to play the warped serial killer in Shadow of a Doubt (1943) – a role about as far removed from the character he plays here. Like Selznick’s other favorite leading ‘every man’ - Gregory Peck, Cotten could also reveal an undercurrent of emotional darkness and grave uncertainty. We get flashes of this in I’ll Be Seeing You; especially during Zach’s penultimate ‘breakdown’ – collapsing onto his bed at the YMCA and mentally reeling as he relives the horrors of the war inside his own head. Sweat-soaked, writhing and terrified, Cotten illustrates the full breadth of Zach’s teetering emotional fragility without ever veering into self-pity or shameless maudlin sentimentality.  

I’ll Be Seeing You commences on a train as Mary and Zach meet cute on a trip to the modest town of Pinehill. Mary is unimpressed by the loud-mouth sailor (Kenny Bowers) who takes the seat opposite her. But she takes a quiet interest in the even more shy Zach. In short order, Mary and Zach establish a false pretext for their mutual interest in each other. She lies to him about being a ‘buyer’ for a department store on holiday and he claims to be on a ten-day furlough from the army, presumably come to visit his sister who also happens to live in Pinehill. Actually, she has been temporarily sprung from the big house for good behavior and he has been only just discharged from the military hospital, suffering mental exhaustion with crippling bouts of nervous anxiety. Once in Pinehill, Zach finagles an invitation to Mary’s Aunt Sara (Spring Byington) and Uncle Henry (Tom Tully), who also have a teenage man-crazy daughter, Barbara (Shirley Temple, unsuccessfully attempting to make the leap from child star to more adult roles). We see Zach take a room at the local YMCA and experience Mary’s reluctant assimilation into her extended family. Almost unknowingly, Barbara anxiously pumps Mary for answers about her past. Meanwhile, suffering from an acute case of conscience, Zach tells Mary he lied to her about having a sister in Pinehill. Since she has already told Sara and Henry as much, Mary helps Zach maintain the illusion to save face.

Afterward, Zach and Mary go to the movies. But the war picture they see seems to unsettle Zach. When Mary ask if this is really what the war is like, Zach opens up to her about his personal experiences. Momentarily imbued with a newfound courage, Zach’s liberation is short-lived. He falters when Swanson (Chill Wills), a middle-age soda jerk afflicted with a facial tic, recounts being shell-shocked from his experiences in World War I. Anxious his own affliction will soon result in a similar disfigurement, Zach suffers an anxiety attack and flees from the café, unable to share his true fears with Mary. And although Mary is reticent about the night’s awkward conclusion, she agrees to see Zach again the next day. Returning to Aunt Sara’s, Mary now addresses Barbara’s innate distrust of her by relating the circumstances that sent her to prison. At the end of her sobering tale, Barbara is brought to genuine tears and begs Mary’s forgiveness for her ignorance. It is willingly given. The next day, Zach takes Mary to a nearby lake to explain his previous night’s behavior. We hurry ahead to Christmas Eve at the Marshalls; Zach, commenting on their close-knit affections. It’s the only real family he has known in a very long while. As Zach is still quite unaware Mary’s stay is temporary, she asks Sara if he should be told the truth. Sara cautions against it, however.

Now, Zach invites the Marshall family to a New Year's Eve gala hosted by the YMCA. To mark the occasion in style, Sara elects to buy Barbara and Mary new party dresses. To ease Sara’s expenses Mary quietly gives the sales girl some money to bring down the actual cost charged to her Aunt. Believing Mary will feel very self-conscious about the price, Sara also gives the sales girl some money in advance, instructing her to down play the actual cost even further. At the party, Zach is put on the spot by a U.S. Senator who attempts to solicit the homogenized soldier’s opinions on political affairs. In reply, Zach explains every soldier is his own man with his own thoughts on how to pursue the American dream. What one thinks the others do not necessarily, and thus – soliciting ‘the soldier’s point of view’ seems a very moot and foolhardy pursuit indeed. Mary and Zach dance the night away. In the wee hours of the morning, while walking Mary home, Zach is attacked by an angry dog. Rather than cowering in fear, Zach manages to ward off the dangerous animal until its owner can have it restrained. Mary suggests to Zach he has proven, if only to himself, he is a lot stronger; much more than he thinks.

Invested with confidence, Zach returns to his room at the YMCA, only to suffer a debilitating setback; reliving his worst nightmares of the war, leaving him emotionally and physically depleted.   Knowing they are scheduled to leave for their respective destinations the next day, Zach agrees to ride with Mary to the train depot. Mary is cut to the quick by Zach’s declaration of love, rushing indoors to cry on Aunt Sara’s shoulder. But the next day as Mary reluctantly prepares for the train, Barbara inadvertently explains Mary’s real situation to Zach. Wounded by her lack of trust in him, Zach becomes distant on the car ride to the station. He silently boards the train leaving Mary perplexed. Returning home, Mary discovers what has happened. Unable to hold Barbara responsible, Mary nevertheless weeps genuine tears. Her last chance at happiness has been ruined. Or has it? That night, as Mary approaches the gates of the state prison, Zach steps from the shadows to apologize for his behavior. The two lovers embrace; Zach vowing to wait out the next three years for Mary’s official release. He will be seeing her again!

I’ll Be Seeing You was Selznick International’s Christmas release and, unsurprisingly, hit the bull’s eye at the box office to the tune of $3.8 million. A tearjerker with a poignant message about love, life and loss is usually surefire, and while the romantic inklings between Ginger Rogers and Jo Cotten were not exactly ‘sparks’, they did equate to a lighthearted and tender whimsy for simpler times that wartime audiences could definitely relate to. I’ll Be Seeing You has held up remarkably well over the years, despite its lack of reissue – both theatrically, and later, on television as the sort of pre-packaged Christmas fodder one expects a la Going My Way (made and released the same year as this movie) and The Bells of St. Mary’s (coming down the pike one year later). Selznick may not have appreciated the more factory-like grinding out of Vanguard’s yearly output (indeed, he believed in fewer pictures made with precise craftsmanship and attention paid to every last detail), but the old-time mogul could definitely respect the revenues generated from these ‘less than perfect’ crowd-pleasing entertainments; particularly as he was then preparing to launch into another opus magnum on par with all the struggles and strife endured on Gone With the Wind (1939). Regrettably, for Selznick, Duel in the Sun (1946) would not be another Gone With the Wind.

Kino Lorber is mining the Selznick back catalog with gusto, though not exactly with the sort of attention to every last detail Selznick would have admired. It’s not their fault, actually. They are merely the distributors of ‘less than perfect’ to (on occasion) downright shoddy and tired, careworn and outdated masters provided to them by the real rights holder. I’ll Be Seeing You doesn’t look as bad on Blu-ray as Since You Went Away or Portrait of Jennie. Indeed, a lot of this 1080p transfer will please the casual viewer. Contrast is weaker than anticipated, but overall the gray scale contains some very nice and consistent tonality. Close-ups and medium shots illustrate more refined details and a light smattering of film grain. Long shots tend to appear soft and slightly out of focus.

What can I tell you? This image harvest derives from elements that ought to have received a new 4K (minimum 2K scan and clean-up). It is the benefactor of neither. So, what we have here is a rough approximation of an image harvest prepped for DVD some years before, merely bumped to a 1080p output. It’s okay in an average sort of way that usually receives a passing grade from other reviewers neither interested in what the film looked like theatrically, nor aspiring to do the utmost to ensure future generations have an archival print worthy of all the talent, time and energy that went into the original making of a classic. Accepting such base-line efforts would be a good starting point if Blu-ray and film preservation/restoration technologies were still in their infancy. They’re not! With a little more time and money paid we could have had a quality affair to champion. I’ll Be Seeing You’s audio is, again, adequate, but unremarkable. Extras are limited to an audio commentary by film historians, Kat Elinger and Sam Deighan, plus a very badly wore theatrical trailer. Bottom line: recommended for content…and transfer, I suppose. Sorry, but I’m not into ‘average’. Neither was Selznick. How about you?

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3

EXTRAS

1