It's Hard to Be Good

Jimmy Hanley spends three years in hospital after injuries in the Second World War, with plenty of time to think about how to maintain peace. He decides that the first step is to be helpful and neighborly, but soon discovers It's Hard to Be Good. Everyone thinks him a nut.... until he is awarded the Victoria Cross, and suddenly he is listened to .... and used.

It's a hopeful little British comedy, with some heart in it, but its low-key MEET JOHN DOE story line makes it seem like an also-ran, despite several amusing incidents, and gorgeous Anne Crawford as his nurse and later wife. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the movie's earnest and mocking tone was not wanted; it was an era of Big Plans and National Efforts, and people didn't believe in its simple, grass-roots ideas... nor, seventy years later, do I. Still, it can be enjoyed for its innocent, middle class humor, if you're in the right mood.