Deborah Takes a Vacation (of Sorts)

It's England, 1940. Robert Wilson (Robert Donat) has volunteered for service in the Royal Navy. He'll be leaving his wife Catherine (Deborah Kerr) behind and he worries that she'll not be able to care for herself. Catherine seems to have a perpetual cold, and without her husband's income will have to struggle to get by. Once onboard ship, Robert is shocked when he learns that Catherine has joined the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service). In the three years that they are separated, the Wilsons mature - and begin to wonder if this Vacation from Marriage (1945) should be a permanent one.

Filmed during the war (TCM article), this movie paints a picture of the results of war-related separation on a marriage. We'll see something similar in America in 1946, with The Best Years of Our Lives, where we are introduced to the three couples whose relationships have been altered by years of division, and the requisite responsibilities that the parties need to assume. In Vacation from Marriage, we are introduced to one couple whose marriage is already troubled before the war. Being independent and forced to face a world turned upside down, the two are forced to grow. But neither is aware that the other has matured as well. Thus, any reunion is going to result in a horrible tension for individuals who are no longer the persons they once were. 

Quite frankly, the Wilsons are initially dull and uninteresting. To quote Henry David Thoreau, they "live lives of quiet desperation." Robert hates his boring office job; his stomach is an ongoing problem, requiring bland foods. Catherine, a stay-at-home wife, is always sick; at the same time, she lives her life to please her husband - her constant reply to change is that "Robert wouldn't like it." Four years of marriage has made them into ghosts who go through life on autopilot. Whatever love they felt for one another has deteriorated into a routine of sameness. They are together because they are used to being together.

It's likely that Catherine joins the Wrens merely from financial necessity, but she finds a purpose in the work that she assumes. Deborah Kerr is almost unrecognizable in the early scenes, so plainly is she made up. Ms. Kerr is able to make the gradual changes to Catherine very believable. It is obvious that, by contributing to the war effort, Catherine begins to find the self-worth that she lost as a housewife. And she quickly realizes that she cannot go back to the life - and the man - she left behind.

Similarly, Robert Donat goes from milquetoast to assertive seaman as he too finds his wings. Like Ms. Kerr, he shows the steady growth of the character; the communication with his wife in the three years they are apart are sent to the woman he left behind. Neither reveals anything about their new lives to the other, creating a disconnect. Then again, how do you tell your spouse by mail that you've become someone else?

There is a grittiness to the story: it's very dark because most of the the scenes are at night. Even when they go into pubs or nightclubs, they are dimly lit; it accentuates the danger inherent in the wartime atmosphere - the night is the time of the bombings that are devastating London.

Our one breath of fresh air to the sorrow we feel for the Wilsons is Glynis Johns as Catherine's new friend, Dizzy Clayton. Dizzy is funny and upbeat. Ms. Johns is excellent as someone who (in spite of the fact that her fiance is also overseas) brings humor to the character. Dizzy may be changing as well with her new responsibility, but as a person, she tries to maintain her humanity; you know that she and her fiance will have a future together after the war's end.

In the US, an introduction was added, with an uncredited Peter Lawford providing the narration. The film also marks the first (uncredited) role for Roger Moore as a soldier.  The movie is based on a story by Clemence Dane (who also wrote A Bill of Divorcement). Ms. Dane won an Oscar for original story. 

Filmed primarily in London (AFI Catalog) (where it was called Perfect Strangers), it did well there, though it was not really successful in the U.S..  Reviews here were very mixed. For example, the  New York Times review was quite complimentary, admiring the leads and the supporting players alike in a story they called an "oft-told tale ...[told] easily and well," while Variety's review was scathing.

We'll leave you with a clip of the not-so-happy couple parting for their various war work, and a suggestion that you give this one a viewing: