Reunion At Fairborough

I remembered seeing this when it came out on HBO back in the 80s a month or two ago and ordered a copy for myself. You can see a lot of honesty in the writing and acting. Mitchum's character's rehabilitation of Red Buttons' character fits with his background as a corporate executive and bomber commander during World War II. He knew how to take charge of people and bring them to their best and he proved it to himself again. Kerr's character was the utterly orderly shopkeeper who did have her life together and both Mitchum's and Kerr's characters were quite and understandably confused by the reunion.I'm not too far shy of 50 myself now and my perspective on the movie is quite different from when I first saw it nearly 30 years ago. Seeing Kerr and Mitchum together in bed (nothing untoward exposed) gives hope for middle-aged folks. I also see how full of it I know I was at the age of the granddaughter played by Judi Trott. We all are.I also figured my parents would like it so I had a copy sent to them for Mom's 72nd birthday yesterday and Mom and Dad called me after they finished watching it and were amazed by it.In short, this is a movie that can be appreciated by both young and not-so-young folks with a great cast.

A wonderful tv type movie with Kerr and Mitchum.

As a kid growing up during the Cold War years, I enjoyed every World War II movie, and particularly those about the bombing missions over Europe. "Twelve O'clock High" with Gregory Peck, and Steve McQueen's "War Lover" come to mind. Now as a grandfather myself, and having the opportunity to reflect on the past and review the catalog of events that we've accomplished, this movie, "Reunion at Fairborough", encapsulates in its images the meaning of growing old. From participants of a war at a time that was much bigger than them, the fast progress achieved during the decades that followed, and reaching a life that peaked and likely is now in decline, we learn that growing, loving and reaching new highs is still achievable.I saw "Reunion" originally on HBO in 1986 and fell in love immediately with the movie because it represented the "what happened to" my heroes after the war ended. In 1986, myself an adult and growing a family, I could then realize that they were people too, that they had a life. It made me comprehend further that the old veteran I see in person today is the same man that fought with valor, strength and energy in his youth.I had seen many other movies with Robert Mitchum and was already a fan. What I didn't know was that Mitchum and his co-star, Deborah Kerr, had made three other movies much earlier, when they were also young. Back in 1986 I taped "Reunion" on VHS and over the years watched it several times, but at one point during one of my relocation moves, I didn't unpack a box of tapes and forgot about it.Just recently I wanted to watch an "old" movie that I felt very connected with and remembered "Reunion". I searched over the Internet if the movie was available on DVD, but much to my disappointment discovered that it wasn't. I made more research about the movie and that was when I discovered that Mitchum and Ms. Kerr had made other movies together. Not only that, Deborah had also been the co-star of Yul Brynner in "The King and I" and the woman at the beach on that famous scene of the kiss on "From Here to Eternity" with Burt Lancaster.I bought a copy of "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" on DVD that Mitchum and Deborah did together in 1957. Although Mitchum plays a marine on this movie as opposed to a bomber pilot on "Reunion", it's impossible not to make the connection of these two great actors together as if they were real people who met during the war. Immediately after watching it, I saw "Reunion" again, as I looked into my box of VHS tapes and found my old copy of the movie. It was like going through a time machine from the past to the future. It also cemented my original impression on "Reunion", that people we see today as elders actually had a life, that they were also young, robust and beautiful.Red Buttons character, Jigss Quealy, could be the most demonstrative of the movie's message. He plays a drunk and homeless old man from Chicago, which masks his past as a war hero. Some viewers may wonder why an old man had a big-band swing dancing scene in the movie, as they may not know that Buttons was a singer/writer, stand-comedian, burlesque performer and Broadway actor.Actor Barry Morse ("Lt. Philip Gerard" in the TV series "The Fugitive") plays the organizer of the reunion. His character as a doctor and university president also runs counter to his past as a shy, loner, Jewish boy afraid of embarrassing himself.I see some correlation between "Reunion" and the movie "The Notebook," as they both present the life of a couple over their lifetime. Where they differ is that "Reunion" focuses on the present and "Notebook" on the past.I give this movie a 5 star, and I recommend it for both young and no so young audiences. I'm happy it is finally on DVD.

I absolutely love this show. As an old Army Veteran, I was drawn right into the plot and loved the story line. Would have loved a scene at the end where he actually had tea with his gal instead of us having to surmise that that is what happened at the end.

I had watched this movie many years ago, when it was on HBO, and have been looking for it for years. I was happy to see it listed on Amazon. Others have reviewed the movie itself, and I can only say that I enjoyed the plot and actors very much.The DVD itself is not a regular DVD, like most purchased DVD's are. It is a DVD-R disk that was recorded as needed and not by a regular DVD process. When I first received a copy of the DVD, I tried to play it on my laptop computer. The movie would not play. I then tried to play it on my DVD player, which is also a DVD recorder. The DVD recorder/player would not recognize it as a compatible disk. I returned that disk as defective, and received a replacement within three days. This DVD had the same issues, but I decided to try it in another DVD/VHS player in the family room. The movie played without difficulty and was of good quality, not HD, but still good.After watching the movie, I looked the case over, and at the very bottom of the back side, in the tiniest possible text was the following message. "This disk is expected to play back in DVD video "Play only" devices, and may not play in other DVD devices, including recorders and PC drives." I normally watch DVD's on my laptop or on my DVD recorder/player, and I've never had a problem before this. The inability to play on computers or DVD recorder/player machines is probably a security function, but should still be mentioned in the product description and not just the tiniest text on the very bottom of the back label.

This is a very well thought out film about a group of guys who served together in WW2 and were stationed in England going back to the old base for a reunion years later. Mitchum and Kerr reunite on film and in the story and really help to notch this up. Red Buttons does a great job as one of the vets. There is a side story about a child from a war time romance and her interaction with the vets. Nice to see a romance on film for those of us over 50. I'm sure that anyone who enjoys a good film, about real people, or the war or seeing real actors for the 40's and 50's still doing good work will like this one.