The AFI catalog lists 75 actors, including the 21 principals given credit on screen. The storyline is introduced and directed by a narrator, Homer's father, who has been dead for two years. The effects of the war on the ' Home Front' over a year in Homer's life are depicted in a series of perceptive vignettes-some amusing, some grave, some ugly, some touching, some sentimental-involving himself, his family, friends and neighbors in his California hometown, and his brother Marcus, a Private in the U.S. The film is the story of a teenaged Homer Macauley in high school, working part-time as a telegram delivery boy, in the fictional town of Ithaca, California, during World War II. Barry Nelson, Robert Mitchum and Don DeFore appear together as boisterous soldiers in uncredited supporting roles. The picture stars Mickey Rooney with Frank Morgan also appearing in the film are James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, Van Johnson, Donna Reed and Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins.

Howard Estabrook was brought in to reduce the run time to two hours. After Saroyan was removed from the project, he wrote the novel of the same name and published it just before the film was released.

It began as a screenplay by William Saroyan, who was expected to direct.

Many of the telegrams that Homer delivers are, of course, war-related.The Human Comedy is a 1943 American comedy-drama film directed by Clarence Brown. Saroyan won the Academy Award for the Best Film Story for the movie version. The main characters are Homer, a 14 year old telegraph messenger boy, and his younger brother Ulysses. This is a deeply moving tragi-comedy set in the fictional California town of Ithaca during World War 2. Illustrated with about 40 line drawings by Don Freeman. Binding is full dark scarlet cloth (uniform color throughout), with black design of messenger boy on bicycle to lower front board and black title, etc., to spine, all corners square and showing little wear, and unmarked endpapers with some foxing. The Text Block is clean, cream colored, tight, straight and square with no spotting or markings of any kind, and a light grayish green top-stain. (First Edition stated, per publisher's statement of practice re first printings in 1936 see Zempel and Verkler, First Editions: A Guide to Identifications.) Fine condition. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, New York, U.S.A., 1943.

The human comedy saroyan