ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

mark.waltz There's something sentimental about the years of World War II, a war where world peace was at stake and 90 percent of the world gathered together to fight against three tyrants who wanted to take over and destroy civilization altogether. Motion picture footage, popular music and still photography document the romantic side of this horrible war which killed possibly billions of innocent young men and civilians on both sides. It's probably the one war in history that young men went in eager, even if reluctantly, to wipe out fascism and restore order to a world gone wild.In 1944 alone, movie goers got an abundance of touching stories of how war affects the home, from the lengthy but outstanding "Since You Went Away", the tear-jerker romance "I'll Be Seeing You" and the tragic "The Sullivans", as well as all-star musicals like "Hollywood Canteen" and "Four Jills in a Jeep" which showed how celebrities were getting involved to "entertain the boys both over there and at home". The majority of the world played cheerleader to the millions of soldiers fighting for home, the girl (or boy) they loved, giving them encouragement that they would have something to return to when the war was finally over."Sunday Dinner For a Soldier" documents how a struggling poor family on the coast of Florida went out of their way to make an effort to participate in the tradition of inviting visiting military personnel over for dinner to help remind them of what remained back at home while they were on active duty. Anne Baxter is the struggling older sister of four children, and living with them is their irascible grandfather (a wonderful Charles Winninger) who is trying to avoid unwanted attentions by the much married town matriarch (Anne Revere). After Revere maliciously rips up Winninger's request for soldiers to attend Sunday dinner as their guests, she has second thoughts when she comes across two of the children selling berries in an effort to raise money for the dinner.Chill Wills is delightful as the local bus driver who escorts visiting soldiers all around the town and provides kindly words of wisdom to his riders. Jane Darwell plays the head of the committee arranging these dinners and is bombarded with late night phone calls by Revere inquiring if she's found at least one soldier to attend. By the time Sunday shows up, it appears that nobody will appear, leaving Baxter, Winninger and the three spunky children all depressed. But miracles happen, and in this case, it's in the form of handsome John Hodiak who happens along the beach near the houseboat where the family resides.There's a ton of luscious subplots galore, including one corny but adorable storyline involving the kid's pet hen whom Winninger hates and presumably plucks and beheads in preparation for that Sunday dinner with the unknown soldier. Baxter plays a hard character on the surface but obviously dreams of romance as evidenced in a scene where she dances in the abandoned facade of a long destroyed building which resembles ancient Greek or Roman ruins. Later, she repeats the dance with Hodiak who is so kind and a perfect representation of the type of young man any family would love to have as a visitor during a time of war, or even peace. Like the other romantic war films I mention above, this has a bit of a tear-jerking finale that shows off the American propaganda machine at its best. Yet, it is filled with hope, which is all America could ask for as the war reached its last year.

dbdumonteil It's only when the movie is over you 'll realize how deeply moving this very simple story is.A propaganda movie,it certainly is ,but a good propaganda movie which speaks to the heart .In those WW2 trouble times , a poor family is preparing a Sunday dinner for a guest : a soldier on furlough who will be back to the front after these fleeting moments of happiness.It's just a joy to see this family give all they have (and it is not much) to treat their guest like a member of their family ,with a little help from their neighbor.Ann Baxter and John Hodiak are a good romantic couple and their meeting when she's dancing alone is a good moment .Like this? try this...."Babettes Gaestebud" (Babette's feast),Gabriel Axel,1987

jacksflicks People are letting themselves get carried away. Ann Baxter is lovely, the music is lovely, Connie Marshall is a real sweetheart (reminds me a little of Peggy Ann Garner), Anne Revere as usual steals the show, and there are a few touching scenes, particularly the flyovers and in the resort ruins. Unfortunately, Lloyd Bacon's direction is execrable. This was a cheap movie, and Bacon makes it show. The sets are obviously sound stage or back lot, which a couple of location shots don't compensate for at all. And the process shots are terribly phony.But what's worse is the cloying sentimentality. Bacon has everyone calling Charles Winninger's cartoonish grandfather "Grandfeathers" every other line, just to remind us how cute the movie is. Bobby Driscoll stands on his head while blowing a whistle to show us how cute he is. The hen's noises are so obviously human (was it Mel Blanc?) it's embarrassing, as are the piles of rubber prop chickens.Next-to-top-billed John Hodiak doesn't make his appearance until near the end, which is a rip-off, given that he gets less screen time than the chicken. The movie could have spent its time developing the Baxter and Hodiak characters, using the Florida shanty, the kids the gramps and other colorful characters as a backdrop, but Bacon front-loads the movie with bathos and the antics of the side characters, while trying to sell the notion of two people falling in love over Sunday dinner in a couple of brief scenes. (Yeah, yeah, they really were an item, but that's certainly not a given in the story. Bacon has The Soldier looking like he's smitten before he's even met the lady! Maybe it was the pheromones.) I like war morale movies, especially those which capture the era. I even like sentiment. But Lloyd Bacon's clumsy, manipulative and saccharine directing wastes a fine cast and a potentially moving story.

markystav I have to agree with all the comments here. "Sunday Dinner For A Soldier" is a wonderful family film. I'm very surprised that it isn't in either DVD or VHS release. Everyone in the cast shines, and the plot is simple, yet beautiful, with just enough humor to keep it rolling along. I've always been a big fan of both John Hodiak and Anne Baxter, so this was perfect casting, in my opinion. Baxter was never lovelier than during this period in her career.It shows up on the Fox Movie Channel every now and then, as it was a Fox Studio production, but I wish it was available for purchase. I'd pull it out every couple of months, just to get spiritually recharged. It is an uplifting film, filled with hope and resolve in the midst of wartime.