Tonight's Movie: We'll Meet Again (1943)

WE'LL MEET AGAIN is a pleasant showcase for the British WWII singing star Vera Lynn, one of three films she made during the war.

Lynn plays Peggy Brown, who becomes a BBC radio star during the London Blitz. She also furthers the career of her composer friend Frank (Ronald Ward), and serves as matchmaker between old friends Ruth (Patricia Roc) and Bruce (Donald Gray).

That's pretty much all there is to the film's slight plot; this 84-minute movie is stitched together by Lynn's performances of a number of songs. My favorites included "Be Like the Kettle and Sing" and "All the World Sings a Lullaby." She also sings "Ave Maria" during a wedding scene.

The story and performances aren't especially compelling, but there's some nice wartime atmosphere -- Peggy's BBC boss has his office in an underground bunker -- and it moves along fast enough.

The end of WE'LL MEET AGAIN, with Lynn joined by what appears to be a real military audience as she sings the title song, is genuinely moving, both due to the lovely song and the sense of history.

I particularly like Patricia Roc so I enjoyed seeing her in a film released the same year she made the patriotic homefront film MILLIONS LIKE US (1943). The next few years were busy for Roc, as she appeared in a number of Gainsborough romances in the U.K., as well as the U.S. film CANYON PASSAGE (1946).

WE'LL MEET AGAIN was directed by Philip Brandon.

WE'LL MEET AGAIN is available on Region 2 DVD in the three-film Vera Lynn Film Collection, available at an affordable price from Amazon.UK.