If he really was out of the service for a couple of years, that really is a screwup. After the war, soldiers came home in uniform, usually, and it was common for them to wear it for a short period of time ... usually days or a week, maybe, while they went around and saw their friends & family, etc. Generally, though, a G.I. could hardly wait to take off the uniform and get into a pair of jeans or slacks, after years of wearing either battle fatigues or a set of khakis. No more shining boots or brass ... wow !
Technically, I think the regulations said it was OK to wear the uniform home, and for a "short period" while getting settled and attending welcome-home celebrations and such -- and the rules are pretty much the same now (or at least when I was in the Army from '64 to '85).
The real difficulty with cars in a 1948 period is that there was a huge gap in car manufacturing from 1941 to '45 because all production was strictly for military vehicles -- tanks, trucks, planes & (I think) a very limited number of military staff cars. I think the first year they actually made new U.S. model cars for civilian production was 1946. New cars sold like mad after that, so it would be difficult to come up with the real mix of "proper" cars on the street for 1948: lots of 46 & 47 models, brand new, and a goodly number of pre-1941 vehicles. Since these weren't considered "classics," you couldn't just call up the local car collectors like they do now.
Still a great movie, but I'm surprised they let that uniform glitch sneak through.
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bradford-1
14 years ago
I don't know about the novel, but I don't think the film says whether he was a draftee or regular Army. Maybe he served in the Occupation forces and decided not to re-up.
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