The Valley of Light

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Be prepared to bring a box of tissues to this heartbreaking film. A soldier returns home from World War 11 to his North Carolina home. His 17 year old brother is in prison for a crime which is not described. When our soldier, played by Chris Klein, named Noah, asks for leniency, he is denied this. On top of all this, his parents have died during the war years. The farm was sold off so Noah has to become a wanderer. He goes to a small town and meets an angel who directed him to go there. He hears the tale of a big fish in a lake. There he meets a young child who lives with his grandparents. The boy's mother is dead and the father is not there. Noah develops a strong bond with the boy who doesn't talk. Noah lives in a shed provided by widow Gretchen Mol, whose husband came home from the war and promptly put a bullet in his head. She lives with his grandmother who has a * for chocolate. The widow gets Noah a shed and shows him the chair where the owner of the latter died. If this isn't enough, tragedy ensues when the silent child pursues the fish. The town mourns by singing a hymn that was sung in the 1953 film version of "Titanic" with Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. Yes, Noah will leave but will find himself back in the town. The story needed to have much more of a character development. This is sadly lacking here. The viewer must have come away very depressed as I did. The film is a heartbreak. Is Noah doing the same search that Tyrone Power was looking for the meaning of life in 1946's "The Razor's Edge." Life, as we know it, can be very depressing. We don't need to be reminded of it by this production. 1945 was never depicted more bleak than this. Maybe, they woke up 3 years later when Dewey was upset by Truman.

The story here is set in 1946, just after the war. Chris Klein is soldier Noah coming back from the war. He visits the SE USA home where he grew up but other people live there now. He has no home, he sets about wandering. There is some mysticism in this movie, at one point he is fishing and an older man comes up and tells him that he sees two other people walking with him, he describes Noah's mom and dad, now deceased. Later he learns that man also had died, a few years ago. All this serves him in the end when he is trying to figure what to do with his life. He ends up in a valley and meets the young widow in town, played by Gretchen Mol as Eleanor. Noah and Eleanor are both very nice, straightforward people, we sense that this being a Hallmark movie they will make a life together before the movie ends. Good, older Hallmark movie, I watched it at home on DVD from my public library.

This little gem (scheduled to be out on DVD February 15 at select Hallmark Stores)will make a great addition to any DVD collection. Just the basics here: WWII vet Noah Locke (Chris Klein) returns home to find a world of change on the home front, ala "The Best Years of Our Lives", and he must take his life in a new direction. A kind old gent Hoke Moore (Robert Prosky) directs him to the valley where a change of his life's direction is offered. Great job by Gretchen Mol as the leading lady Eleanor Chatwin. Mol's character undergoes changes of her own after meeting Noah. She is a widow of a WWII vet who ended his life upon returning home from the war and her life is a closed loop. Between caring for her late husband's grandmother(who seems to survive on chocolate bars) and running the farm, she appears to have little else in her life. Just compare the change in her physical appearance from their initial meeting in a general store to the the scene of a good old' sit down catfish dinner in her home....Southern Style! A terrific supporting cast rounds out this Hallmark Hall of Fame gem. The filming locations in Oregon and California fill in nicely for rural, post WWII North Carolina. Tragedy strikes both their lives and threatens to end the blossoming romance between Noah and Eleanor. Noah soon realizes that he was guided to the valley. Several media critics panned this flick, but it came in at #10 for the week in the ratings, tied with "24", so see it for yourself and make your own decision.

1946. A time very few of us can relate to. A time when simple things and simple relationships gave life a unique texture. A great movie to put our own lives and our own relationships into perspective. Watch the movie, perhaps it will help you to better understand what is really important in life. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 3/16/2021

At the beginning of the movie, the music makes me full of energy.When Noah gets off the bus, he feels he was born again because of being a part of war.I am sure anybody who has watched this film would wish war should never happen in a country because nobody's soul and body can be saved.When Noah was recalling memories of war and felt sad about it, it was hard for me to watch this part of film because it made me too fearful. I appreciate Eleanor(Mol) and the town people who accepted and welcome Noah with open arms and invited him to their activities and homes. I could not imagine how people were so kind and sensible there before watching this movie. Noah was feeling too responsible for his brother and wanting to get him some leniency from the law. It was very important for Noah to know something about his parents from Mr.Hood.I think the director chose the right actor and actress for the job since they played their roles naturally and attractively . I hope more movies like this would be made in future for all ages because they can be suitable for teenagers as positive entertainment.

OK, the plot: a soldier returns from WW2 with bad dreams and finds that the home he's grown up in has been sold and his kid brother is in jail for a youthful prank apparently. He wonders around, by bus I guess and fishes most of the rivers, large and small, of the Southeast. On one of these rivers, he meets an old man who recommends he hike over the ridge where he'll meet some nice people. He does and they are. A pretty widow, (Gretchen Mol) allows him to stay in a fishing cabin her husband frequented before he committed suicide. None of the characters are at all well developed; I guess I have to blame the script. I gave it a five only because I was able to sit through it. I've liked Gretchen Mol in other movies so it's no surprise she was appealing in this one. I question whether a woman in 1946-7(?) would be so forthright about approaching a man who interested her. And there was no need to kill off a perfectly cute kid just for cheap sentiment, before we even get a chance to hear what he has to SAY.

The cinematography in this movie gives the soul the space and wings to soar! The rivers and lakes are swarming with schools of fish, skirted by beautifully dense woods filled with chirping crickets. The lush green pastures with rich black earth are ripe with enormous wiggling worms - great pickin' for fish-bait. The characters and the plot are heartwarming - yet heartbreaking. A handsome WWII soldier wandering the countryside trying to outpace the grief that dogs his every step since returning stateside. A pretty widow with a warm heart who takes loving care of her deceased husbands' brain-addled aged grandmother. A lonely young mute boy, makes one wonder if it is perhaps from his young mother's death or his runaway fathers abandonment of him. The town and it's cast of characters are quite charming - they make one long to move to this little friendly town in the valley of yesteryear. Throw in a mess of fishin' to boot and this is a MARS & VENUS Movie. The finale of this movie gives ones' soul hope and that's no tall tale. Don't let this movie be - "The One That Got Away"!