Journey for Margaret | |
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Margaret O'Brien in Journey for Margaret
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Directed by | W. S. Van Dyke |
Produced by | B. P. Fineman Dore Schary |
Screenplay by | David Hertz William Ludwig |
Based on |
Journey for Margaret 1941 novel by William Lindsay White |
Starring |
Robert Young Laraine Day Fay Bainter Nigel Bruce Margaret O'Brien |
Music by | Franz Waxman |
Cinematography | Ray June |
Edited by | George White |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date
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Running time
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81 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $484,000 |
Box office | $1,534,000 |
Journey for Margaret is a 1942 drama film set in London in World War II. It stars Robert Young and Laraine Day as a couple who have to deal with the loss of their unborn child due to a bombing raid. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by William Lindsay White.
This was the final film of the prolific director W. S. Van Dyke.
During World War II, American war correspondent John Davis (Robert Young) leaves France for safer London with his wife, Nora (Laraine Day), who is pregnant. John wants her to go back home to Connecticut, but she decides to stay on by his side. John is worn down by the war, and Nora has her doubts about his conviction as a reporter.
During The Blitz, John is walking around London in the rubble, moved when discovering a desperate young boy. As he returns home, he learns that his wife has been hurt in the bombings and taken to hospital.
It turns out Nora has lost the baby and is permanently injured, meaning that she will never be able to bear another child. Nora is devastated when she hears the news about her condition.
It takes months for Nora to recover; and, when she does, John tries to put her on a flight home to the United States. She agrees; but John's colleague, Herbert V. Allison (Nigel Bruce), tries to convince her to stay on and fight to get over the ill fate that has befallen her. Despite this, she goes home.
John continues his work writing about war orphans. He meets with the director of the orphanage, Trudy Strauss (Fay Bainter), and starts caring for the children. He also meets Peter, the boy he saw during The Blitz (William Severn), who has been mute since he arrived at the orphanage.