MartinHafer Loretta Young and David Niven play a rich and successful couple who travel the globe with his magic show. Despite the glamor, Young is miserable, as Niven is addicted to his career--the excitement, the night life and the adulation from his public. But, Niven is sometimes too adventurous--doing some outlandishly dangerous stunts. Also, although he's promised his wife that they'll vacation and act like a normal couple, he really doesn't mean it and she's sick of the life. Despite telling him this, he doesn't seem to hear her--only thinking of himself and his career. So, out of desperation, she leaves him--running off to Reno for a divorce. He only catches up to her when it's too late--she's now on her honeymoon with her new husband, Broderick Crawford. What can be done? Niven does love his ex-wife and wants to reform...and is there any way to get her back? and what about poor Crawford? "Eternally Yours" has one huge thing going for it--David Niven. Aside from a few turkeys (such as "Casino Royale" and his last Pink Panther appearance), I will watch him in about anything. The film is enjoyable but inconsequential--with a very good supporting cast, such as the always enjoyable C. Aubrey Smith, Eve Arden, Zasu Pitts and others. However, one weakness in the film was the way poor Crawford was treated...he was sadly misused by Niven and Young and this made the film a bit cold-hearted. Still, it is worth seeing.By the way, the parachute scene was awfully poorly done. Not only did it look rather fake but the chute opened about 30 or 40 feet from the ground (after jumping from 15,000 feet) and yet he was pretty much physically unharmed--BOTH times he did it. Such a landing would have no doubt killed him or at least resulted in a VERY prolonged hospital stay! Also, Niven's explanation of the powers of hypnosis (such as being able to make someone kill when hypnotized) are ridiculous! I've trained in hypnosis and surely would have used it for evil had these sort of powers been possible!!

Cristi_Ciopron In this crass comedy from his youth, Niven plays an illusionist named Tony or Arturo, the 2nd being, as you have already guessed, his stage name, and this Tony begins taking death defying leaps; his wife is the pretty Anita (--performed by the spicy and cute Loretta Young--). She divorces him once she realizes their views of life don't match very much—she wants to settle, he wants to travel, etc., you know this marriages between a British magician and his assistant coming from an American Episcopalian background. Anita's granddaddy is an American Bishop of the Hollywoodian sort common to most of the righteous movie priests of the Latin rites, either Anglican or Catholic—dignified, wise, calm, unobtrusive and reliable—why, you know those American Bishops. Anita picks a 2nd husband, a youngster fat, ugly and dolt (--and strong as a bull--); she soon realizes that life with this fatty is even worse. She of course refuses to give herself to him; her Tony was slick and a bit funny, her present husband is clumsy, boring and uninspiring. This refused husband is shown, furious, dejected, seeking his pajamas in his voyage bag, a sad scene, fortunately short. Arturo regrets loosing Anita; he wants this babe back.ETERNALLY YOURS is execrably written, and not a very good movie; it wishes to be a comical romance. The characters' deeds say nothing about them, don't express them at all.Loretta Young is 'Anita', Zasu Pitts does a supporting part (--again, strangely appealing--), the very nice Virginia Field plays 'Lola De Vere', Niven's assistant.I guess I never knew anyone who was a Niven fan. His performances are average at best; his mischievous face and nervousness, as of a Rathbone on a severe diet, gave him a distinct profile, usable in comedy format—and not much else. Niven, ironic, dry, witty and essentially melancholy, was a bit of a stock character for British comedies, if you take my meaning. Niven, as you ought to know, was a bi-dimensional actor, very limited, a nice vaudeville type. His characters are cartoons, in a very narrow register; he made his lookalike Guinness seem a regular Welles by comparison. As often with Niven, his character has an essential sadness and gloom; he feigns cheating on his wife, which he doesn't, etc.. Otherwise, the characters are _undelineable. The script is rubbish, there's no story, the lines are dull; so, uninteresting, rudimentary characters in a non—existent script (there are a couple of presumably double _entendres like—'we always did it at the finish of every act …--of every performance', says 'Anita' after she kisses 'Arturo').

writers_reign ... in 1939 though they'd have you think so. There were also bread-and-butter entries like this one, pleasant enough, entertaining even, but lacking that little 'extra' in an era that offered Easy Living,The Awful Truth etc. Of course anything with Eve Arden is going to be watchable and it's especially interesting to see Brod Crawford in the Ralph Bellamy role and trivia buffs will love the fact that Niven, here married to a Bishop's granddaughter (Young) moved both of them up a notch when he made Young The Bishop's Wife a decade later. Also noteworthy is the expose of magician's tricks, not least a new wrinkle on mind-reading. Lots to like her for the undemanding.

javalorum I enjoyed this picture a lot. It has the warmth of the classics, yet the characterization and the whole plot fits to today's world. The incredible chemistry between the two leads is (I found) very rare among movies from that age.