★ 6 / 10
Jimmy Stewart always could pull off the role
CinemaSerf
Jimmy Stewart always could pull off the role as the hapless, dewy-eyed fellow; but in this one - despite actually shedding a tear - he struggles to hold this…
Jimmy Stewart always could pull off the role as the hapless, dewy-eyed fellow; but in this one - despite actually shedding a tear - he struggles to hold this slightly gloopy melodrama together. He portrays a lawyer who falls in love with and impulsively marries Carole Lombard ("Jane") and they have a baby. Simultaneously, his job prospects take a turn for the worst and they find themselves a bit skint. This puts obvious pressures on their relationship and the film charts their ups and downs. Charles Coburn turns in a good performance as the "Judge" and there's quite a tense sequence with Ward Bond/Eddie Quillan flying in to the rescue at the end. I think sometimes we tend to forget that a lot of these films were little more than production-line efforts; so maybe we expect too much by way of distinctive storylines and/or performances. This one is fine, but forgettable.
★ 7 / 10
An up and down movie, the ups really spectacular...
secondtake
Made for Each Other (1939) "Last year there were half a million divorces in this country. Congratulations." And that is the beginning of a sometimes-screwball…
Made for Each Other (1939)
"Last year there were half a million divorces in this country. Congratulations."
And that is the beginning of a sometimes-screwball comedy that turns very serious by the end, with James Stewart leading the charge. It could be screwier, and Jimmy Stewart is more lovable than hilarious, so the humor revolves around him as the foil. Carole Lombard, his partner in crime, can be more zany, for sure, but even there, she is more restrained than other films (like "Twentieth Century"). It's the situation, and the rest of the cast, who make this funny...and eventually tragic.
How exactly it drags at times is hard to say. Oddly, even Stewart is a little off base, exaggerating too much. The plot, overall, lacks drive. You might think this doesn't matter in a silly comedy, but it does very much. In fact, because this comedy is laced with a fair amount of normal drama, it needs a basic conflict that dramas need. There are some terrific scenes--the New Year's moment is really moving, and the scenes after that--and these are the reason to watch.
On some level, this is a type of drama/comedy that is aimed at new parents, or newlyweds. The couple's focus on the baby reminded me of "Christmas in Connecticut," and "Penny Serenade." I wish it just worked better, but too often it bumbles along, one little moment after another, the result of imperfect direction (John Cromwell) and a weak script. So it does the best it can, and the last half hour is its best, with high drama kicking in. This is a David O. Selznick production in the same year as his slightly more famous movie, "Gone with the Wind."
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Thank you very much!