Perfect Strangers (1945)

Anyone who has been in a long-term relationship will probably recognise the behaviours at the start of the film. A couple largely going through the motions, living the same routine from day to day with neither really thinking about the quality of their lives. In this case it's Deborah Kerr ("Cathy") and husband "Robert" (Robert Donat) who are in this malaise. Along comes WWII, though, and the pair are separated and their existences given much more varied and dangerous twists which make their post-war reunification quite bumpy. Indeed, it doesn't take them very long to realise that they have very little in common any more, and that perhaps they ought to just divorce. There is bundles of chemistry between the two and with some almost sagely contributions from her pal "Dizzy" (Glynis Johns) alongside Ann Todd and Roland Culver we have a character led film that exasperates as it entertains. It's romantic, but not sentimental - and you frequently just want to bang their heads together. Nicely scored by Clifton Parker, it's a well made, slightly nostalgic, look at the curiously cathartic effects of upheaval - and is well worth a watch.