Thanks a lot to the other reviewers so far..I enjoyed most of them and the first three reviewers got it pretty well for me! Yes it's quirky and different but I agree with one reviewer that Ayn Rand's positive and life-affirming views animate the film. For me it says SO much about society trying to build up again after the War and so much about hope (and hope in the face of loss) The acting really leaps in quality when the two leads face their decision whether to marry or not. I think it particularly moving that a film about war is 100% spent on domestic soil, and deals with the emotions of people who still live, meet, love and plan for the future. I feel that in the film makers' minds were: what will the audience be thinking and feeling? They have just been through 4 years of loss and hope, fear, tears, turmoil. The stand-out scenes are in the chapel for Ivy's sister's wedding, the church after they are married and of course the departure. Also in the nightclub, when the audience watches the band and Helen Forrest singing. It is the audience we are invited to observe, and perhaps the main theme of all is - handkerchiefs at the ready - love conquers all. There were some truly great films about adjustment to life after the war; this is one of them.