I can't imagine the studio believed this dour exercise about a man's unrelieved grief over the loss of his family would make money. Judging from the post-war release date, this was likely part of MGM's effort to refashion a more daring image from its pre-war Andy Hardy wholesomeness.A key problem, as I see it, is that the haughty Prof. Ainley (Milland) is not much different emotionally before the tragedy than after. Thus it's rather hard to work up much sympathy for his loss, since his grief can only be guessed at. Now this absence can be rationalized as refusing to take an easier way out. Making him cold and unsympathetic both before and after means having to find sympathy for even a hard case. Still, it does detract from identifying with him for the great bulk of the movie. It also makes the awkward Hollywood ending that much more implausible.In the central role, Milland does a good job at showing little emotion and making himself haughty. I assume we're supposed to identify instead with the likable Prof. Lawry (Hodiak) who remains a generous friend throughout, even if he does suspect Ainsley's designs on his girl. But pity poor Jean Hagen's affection-starved "Girl next door" who's awkwardly dropped in one moment only to be spurned the next. Good thing that fine little actress, the non- glamorous, Nancy Davis Reagan is on hand to lend genuine realism.Except for the predictable Hollywood ending, the movie may be an earnest effort at dealing with a common human problem. But, in my view, it's simply too flawed to really register. Maybe that's why it's become so obscure.

While not one of the truly greats -- such as Tracy or Grant -- Ray Milland had a number of film performances that were excellent, though he is not well-remembered today, and thus has become rather underrated. There's no real criticism of Milland here, although there are times that the script dialog lets him down. Nevertheless, this is a very good...though not great film.The supporting cast here is quite impressive. John Hodiak was a fine actor who didn't live long enough to fully prove his worth on the big screen; he's very good her as the supportive friend. Nancy Davis (later Reagan) is better than her usual limited screen performance here; in my view she could have had a rather good film career as a supporting actress, but didn't quite have the looks; here she plays a friend who lost a husband herself. Lewis Stone plays the head of the college department where Milland works; it's far less than a supporting actor of his caliber deserved.The story has a college professor's wife and son blown up and killed, and it then traces his descent through alcoholism and suicide. Do people act like that> I have no way of knowing, but I have an idea the answer is yes.This film seems a bit more realistic than many that might cover the same type of topic. I think what makes it better than average is that it also looks at how others around the drunk are suffering because of his behavior. The closing scene with Milland's college class is a bit corny, but aside from that, this is a pretty decent film...not a great film...but certainly worth watching at least once.

Suburban DisturbanceA Cub Scout careens through the yards and streets of a neat, clean college town on his way to school. He stops to pick up his friend Timmy Ainley, but Timmy has the sniffles and must stay home with his mother (Rosemary DeCamp) while Mr. Ainley (Ray Milland), a professor of English at the local college, thinks the sniffles are being faked to avoid a math test. As the professor sets off to work, he and his wife are approached by their elderly neighbor Mrs. Niemoller who complains timidly that the boys in the neighborhood, including Timmy, make too much noise when they play and also heedlessly trample her garden. After promising to address the issue, the Ainleys raise one of their own: Mr. Niemoller plays Mozart very loudly in the middle of the night, keeping Mr. Ainley awake. This is the tip-off that all is not so neat and perfect in this seemingly idyllic community. And then the plot shifts gears: While discussing a passage from Shakespeare's "Richard II" (which probably has a symbolic bearing on the story) Milland and his students hear sirens. Fire trucks are racing to the professor's own house, which has been engulfed in flames after a freak furnace explosion. His wife and son are killed.In his stunned grief he turns to drink and is also given solace by a colleague (Nancy Davis), a war widow who empathizes with his loss. Davis's boyfriend (John Hodiak) is uncomfortable with the attention Davis is giving to Milland, even though there is no romantic angle to it. Hodiak's discomfort builds toward angry jealousy while Milland's drinking gets out of control (don't expect a rehash of "Lost Weekend"; the boozing here is mild in comparison).Much of the movie involves gentle conversational attempts by Davis to help Milland cope. Jean Hagen appears late in the proceedings as a sluttish young woman who occupies a hotel room across the hall from the professor's, her inclusion perhaps a device to set in relief his hopeless emotional isolation. Incidentally, Milland meets Hagen when he knocks on her door to complain about the loudness of the classical music coming from her phonograph player. But after only one viewing, it is not clear why loud classical music has to figure twice in the scenario. All of the performances are very good and come across as if the director toned them down as much as possible. Hodiak and Davis make an odd couple. At one point she refers to his "big, thick head," when in fact his head is smaller than hers! There is a laid-back conversational feel to the film in general and its small scale and fake looking sets suggest a television drama. ****SPOILER: The whole story can be reduced, really, to the single trite and true observation that it is better to feel your grief than swallow it or bottle it up; once you feel it, i.e., break down and cry, etc., you are on the road to recovery.***** END OF SPOILER

RAY MILLAND is a troubled professor who seems to be wallowing in self-pity shortly after the death of his wife and son in a house fire. He begins to scare people with his brusque behavior, both in and out of the classroom. NANCY DAVIS and JOHN HODIAK are sympathetic friends who offer him loyal support--but nobody seems able to help Milland who seems to want to spend more time with the bottle than anything else.The self-pity angle goes on for too long to make Milland's character likable, although his acting is quietly underplayed and altogether believable. "I know you want to help me. Most people do, but you can't," he tells Davis who had to get over her own sense of loss in the past. Davis is full of platitudes and is almost too nice, but she too plays her role well, as does Hodiak.This goes on for the first hour and the main interest in the story is to see how and when Milland will snap out of it. Toward the end of the film he's still telling a waitress, "Find me a glass without a hole in the bottom." It takes a student athlete unable to pass one of Milland's exams that sets the plot on a final course wherein a driving accident lands him in jail and on probation. But Milland's change of heart enables him to give the flunking college student (JONATHAN COTT) another chance to pass, which he does, and he goes about setting in motion his final will, leaving his kid's bike to the boy's best friend. What happens after that, is quite predictable, but once again it's Nancy to the rescue.Honest telling of a troubling tale of a man attempting to solve his problems with alcohol. Nowhere as engaging or powerful as Milland's most famous film, THE LOST WEEKEND, but a modestly successful drama on its own merits.