Until They Sail

The men of New Zealand march off to war, leaving behind cities and villages filled with women and loneliness. In time, new men come ashore: U.S. Marines facing uncertain futures in Pacific battles yet to come. And new loves -- tender or tragic, transitory or lasting -- begin to flower. A constellation of actresses shines in a bittersweet James A. Michener story of sisters (Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie and Sandra Dee) embracing love in a time of war, but it's the sensitive romance between a war widow (Simmons) and a jaded captain (Paul Newman, establishing his credentials as a screen heartthrob) that forms the tale's poignant heart. Under the sensitive direction of Robert Wise (who directed Newman the year before in his breakthrough Somebody Up There Likes Me), the memories of a lifetime are formed Until They Sail.

• drama