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Friday, June 1, 2012

Eternally Yours (1939)

A young wife (Loretta Young at her wide eyed loveliest) is married to an internationally famous Houdini like magician (David Niven). At first, it's exciting as they travel the world, living out of hotel rooms but she tires of it and wants to settle town with a home and children. When she realizes he's not interested in changing their lifestyle, she divorces him. It's pretty much a watery screwball comedy through no fault of the two leads who are up to it. But the laughs are almost non-existent and there's barely a trace of wit or sparkle in the screenplay. It's prototype seems to be the 1937 Leo McCarey THE AWFUL TRUTH, even down to the clueless Bellamy stand in, in this case, the appealing Broderick Crawford. Unenthusiastically directed by Tay Garnett (THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE). Werner Janssen's score got the film's only Oscar nomination. The large supporting cast includes Eve Arden of whom there's not enough of, Billie Burke, C. Aubrey Smith, Hugh Herbert, Virginia Field and Zasu Pitts.

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