"BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES" question

[DownGoesFrazier]

Every time I see the film, it bothers me that Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) calls his father "Dad" or "Pop" but calls his "mother" "Hortense" (What a terrible name). Is the Gladys George character his step-mother rather than his mother?

[patful]

I always thought so. I guess having a stepmother named Hortense just added to the misery of growing up in a shack under the tracks.

[molo14]

Yes definitely his step mother. Perhaps she and his father were never actually married.

 

It didn't seem like a very pleasant existence did it? I am big on liking old fashioned names and "Hortense" is definitely one you don't hear much anymore.

 

I found her character very touching in the way she initially tries to defend Marie in order to spare Jack's feelings. She definitely had a lot of miles behind her but I thought she was really sweet.

[CineMaven]

MADHAT, ARE YOU GOING M.I.A. AGAIN????? WHERE YA BEEN, BOY?

[patful]

I always found it interesting that Fred, who presumably had the roughest childhood, ended up outranking the middle-class Homer and upper-middle Al. Only in America.

[markfp2]

> {quote:title=patful wrote:}{quote}

> I always found it interesting that Fred, who presumably had the roughest childhood, ended up outranking the middle-class Homer and upper-middle Al. Only in America.

 

Air Force pilots were officers and that resulted in quicker promotions for younger men than in other branches of the service. My dad was a gunner on a B-24 in WWII and at 23 was the oldest of the crew. He also told me that as the war went on and bombers were hitting cities in Germany, enlisted crew members were all made sergeants to assure better treatment if they were shot down and captured. I guess that explains why there were something like 700 sergeants in STALAG 17.

[patful]

*Air Force pilots were officers...* - markfp2

 

All pilots were officers, but bombardiers could be officers or NCO's.

[molo14]

> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote}

> MADHAT, ARE YOU GOING M.I.A. AGAIN????? WHERE YA BEEN, BOY?

 

I've just been lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce!

 

Where the heck did I get "Jack" from? I meant Fred.

 

I really should think before I pounce!

[molo14]

> {quote:title=patful wrote:}{quote}

> I always found it interesting that Fred, who presumably had the roughest childhood, ended up outranking the middle-class Homer and upper-middle Al. Only in America.

 

I did too. When the new manager of the drug store asks Fred about his experiences, he (meaning Fred) brushes off any command experience he had. It all serves the big disconnect between his war life and his civilian life. Marie mentions that she never saw Fred in regular civilian clothes until he came home.

 

Great movie!

[DownGoesFrazier]

You don't hear the name Hortense much anymore for a good reason.

[markfp2]

> {quote:title=patful wrote:}{quote}

> *Air Force pilots were officers...* - markfp2

>

> All pilots were officers, but bombardiers could be officers or NCO's.

 

I don't recall him ever mentioning the rank of the bombardier, I guess his point was just that at 23 he was oldest and that the pilots, both officers, were younger than him.

[patful]

*I don't recall him ever mentioning the rank of the bombardier...* - markfp2

 

Captain Fred was the bombardier. Remember him describing all the time he spent on his knees in the nose of the plane?

[markfp2]

> {quote:title=patful wrote:}{quote} Captain Fred was the bombardier. Remember him describing all the time he spent on his knees in the nose of the plane?

 

Sorry,I didn't make myself clear. I wasn't talking about Fred. I was referring to the comment I had made earlier about my Dad about being in a bomber crew in WWII. I sometimes forget that people read what I write and not what I'm thinking when I'm writing it.

[patful]

*I sometimes forget that people read what I write and not what I'm thinking when I'm writing it.* - markfp2

 

Hah! Count yourself lucky. I usually don't even know what I'm thinking when I write. I can't imagine how anyone deciphers my gibberish.