Peter Ibbetson (1935)

Beginning in Paris, two children (the horrible child actors, Dickie Moore and Virginia Weidler) who love each other are torn apart by fate. But they will reunite in adulthood (as Gary Cooper and Ann Harding) with a love that will transcend time and dimension. Based on the novel by George Du Maurier and directed by Henry Hathaway. This mawkish and florid fantasy begins terribly with the section devoted to the children. I'm not sure Hathaway (who usually directed grittier fare) is the kind of director for this sentimental  twaddle. The middle section when they meet as adults holds up relatively well then collapses again as fate steps in and tears them apart. Cooper, in particular, looks ill at ease reciting the flowery dialogue but Harding looking lovely blithely sails above it all but even she comes crashing down to earth in the film's overripe finale meant to jerk tears. With Ida Lupino as a cheeky soubrette who livens things up briefly, John Halliday, Douglass Dumbrille, Doris Lloyd and Donald Meek.