Just what I expected

I'll tell you why so serious

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

An unusual film in that it highlights a romance based on a longstanding friendship.The performances of Van Johnson and June Allyson are OK but I didn't understand how Nancy and Uncle Thad could have come upon Alec's downed plane in the middle of nowhere when the aircraft's signaling system had been torpedoed. This film is indeed powerful as we watch the only two survivors of the shoot-down dispose of a deceased crew and try to stay alive on a cup of water and hopes of reaching an idyllic isle. However, it didn't make sense that a shot-down plane would float that way on the water. Wouldn't it have sunk to the ocean floor? Despite these incongruities, as this movie edged toward its conclusion, I found myself wondering whether a 1947 American-made film might actually allow the good guy to expire. Then his perky girlfriend appears out of nowhere? A very puerile and unlikely denouement...

I had the feeling while watching this film that MGM though they had something truly special here. In reality, they have -- at best -- a rather average movie. There were two things about the film I really disliked. The pre-teen main character...well, I have seen far better child actors. But what really sealed this picture for me -- and I mean that in a negative sense -- was the segment with the bicycle ride at the circus, which was so preposterous...well, someone should have said to the director and screen writes -- "Are you nuts?" And then there's the ending...which I won't give away. The ending should have been expanded so that the audience would fully understand what High Barbaree actually was. But suddenly, the movie was simply over.Having said those things, however, I do have to say that this film has some redeeming qualities. There are some very fine segments here, especially back in the home town. But even more impressive is the acting by Van Johnson in the scenes when he is near death...perhaps the finest in his career.I really suggest that those who have a chance watch this film. It's intriguing, despite its faults. Recommended.

I hope the following words do not turn some folks off on this truly good movie. It is a sweet movie! Want to get lost in something nice, get this movie, want to feel good about friendship and romance, get this movie. I usually say "the actors did their job and earned their pay," well they surely did in this one. With me, anything June Allyson did was super for me. With Mr. Johnson, I can say, I like just about all of the work he has done, that I have seen. Brigadoon, is one of my favorites with him. When the movie started they had me, and took me along with the story, and I am very glad they did. To all involved with this movie, thank you.

This is truly awful stuff from MGM for two of its most popular stars during the forties--and even the presence of CAMERON MITCHELL in a supporting role--where he must listen and listen to VAN JOHNSON rambling on and on about his childhood past and his attachment to sweetheart JUNE ALLYSON, doesn't save the film from floundering in a sea of sentimental mush. Nor does the presence of THOMAS MITCHELL as Johnson's uncle help matters.A plane crash has the two men (Johnson and Cameron Mitchell) sitting on a raft in the middle of the ocean awaiting uncertain rescue and much of the story is told in boring, sentimental flashbacks to the Navy flier's early life and subsequent romance. Johnson has long-winded monologues and all of them are dreadful to listen to. It's a wonder he and Allyson kept their box-office popularity as long as they did with flimsy material like this.Even the good support from CAMERON MITCHELL and MARILYN MAXWELL doesn't help overcome the weak script, an odd blend of fantasy about an island called High Barbaree and idealized romance. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on any level at all, let alone as a vehicle for Van Johnson and June Allyson.