A Guy Named Joe: 1943 War Romance, Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson.
Marc Horton Plot Synopsis: Tracy is a WWII flyboy. Improbably, Dunne is also a pilot. They're in love. Tracy dies on a bombing raid. Dunne feels bad. Johnson's a fresh recruit. Dunne falls in love. Tracy's ghost hovers over her.
Notables: Breakthrough film for Van Johnson, who became one of the Top 5 box office draws in the '40s. Production was interrupted by Johnson's car accident that left him with a plate in his head. Steven Spielberg remade it as Always in 1989. The original filmed ending had Dunne dying on her own bombing raid, but the Production Code said that implied she committed suicide, so a happier ending was shot.
Politically Incorrect Movie Review: If Van Johnson, who died Dec. 12, was a top box office draw, a lot of grandmas must have been going to the movies in the 40s.
11 years ago