Eternally Yours (1939) User Reviews

That Debonair Charm

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 April 2006]

If there was ever one thing every one could agree about David Niven is he had no small amount of debonair charm. It got him through many a film when the role required little else. I would say that is the case in Eternally Yours.

Loretta Young, granddaughter of Episcopalian minister C. Aubrey Smith, meets and falls in love with a magician. That would be David Niven. But he's more than a magician, he's the current Houdini wannabe who has skill as a hypnotist and an escape artist.

Niven likes the life of a traveling entertainer, but Loretta wants to settle down with a home. After a death defying leap from a plane when he's handcuffed behind him, Young can't deal with the tension any more and she leaves him. He finds he can't go on without her, but she ups and divorces him and marries Broderick Crawford.

Of course the rest of the film is about Niven winning Young back in the best tradition of Cary Grant who may very well have been offered this part before Niven. Loretta is certainly worth winning back. I'm betting that Ralph Bellamy turned down the Ralph Bellamy part so Broderick Crawford was cast. Niven enjoys tweaking him in this film, but I'm not sure why unlike Bellamy who was usually a well meaning goof, Crawford didn't just punch him out.

The climax takes place at the 1939 World's Fair and you might want to see Eternally Yours for some nostalgia footage of that event. But it is a film that really does get by on the charm of its leads.

Attractive stars but not much of a story

[csteidler · 5/10 · 9 May 2018]

Wealthy and beautiful Loretta Young is all set to marry Broderick Crawford and settle down to a normal life, but for a lark she takes her gang of socialite friends to see the Great Arturo, the magician in town. Next thing you know, she's ditched her family and friends, married Arturo, and joined his traveling magic act.

David Niven is that charming showman Arturo and his bride quickly realizes that he's not only a showman but a thrill seeker--and a party animal, as well. One morning Young and Niven are both surprised to read in the paper that he has drunkenly promised to jump out of an airplane in handcuffs.

Niven thinks, I can't disappoint my audience! I have to do it even if it kills me! Young thinks, Wouldn't it be sweet to have a nice quiet home in the country? Therein lies the conflict that, unfortunately, drags on for the rest of the picture.

Young is fine as the earnest young woman in love with a disaster waiting to happen. And Niven is quite convincing as the out-of-control daredevil who just can't stop himself. However, the question is - What exactly do they see in each other? The characters just don't seem to have any reason to be together.

The strong supporting cast includes Billie Burke, Ray Walburn, Zasu Pitts, and C. Aubrey Smith. Hugh Herbert is very good as Niven's assistant.

It's a handsome production but while the stars do look good it's too bad that neither of their characters seems very bright.

Very Effective Layer of Gloss

[misctidsandbits · 5/10 · 28 December 2012]

This movie survived by a very effective layer of gloss, the class and distinctiveness of both Niven and Young's portrayals and the production values. But, oh, the surrounding stuff. Broderick Crawford as a love interest for Ms. Young? Magic acts? What an embarrassing entry this must have been for the star performers in the year of some of the most classic films ever made. This film is one good example of the leads overcoming the liabilities of the vehicle, thus saving the show. Well, sort of. Ms. Young later recounts the scene on the bed with Niven being her favorite subtle type of love scene. Reviewers cite this particular scene as what could have been a censor objection had not the actors handled it with so much sophistication and grace.

It Wasn't All Classics ...

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 1 April 2008]

... 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.

Niven and Young in a light comedy

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 17 October 2015]

David Niven and Loretta Young pledge to be "Eternally Yours" in this 1939 film also featuring Hugh Herbert, C. Aubrey Smith, Broderick Crawford, Eve Arden, Zasu Pitts, and Billie Burke.

Young plays Anita, who is engaged to Don (Crawford); however, she attends a performance by The Great Arturo (Niven), a Houdini-type who also reads minds and palms, and it's love at first sight for both of them. They marry, and she becomes part of his act, traveling full time all over the world.

Anita is hoping to settle down with Arturo and have a home and family. With the help of her grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith) she secretly builds her dream home. When she shows it to Arturo, he dismisses it. She leaves him, divorces him, and marries Don.

Light comedy with a charming cast. Young is beautiful, 26 at the time, and she and Niven work well together, as they did in one of my favorite movies, The Bishop's Wife.

People commented that this is a horrible plot, bad script, etc. It seemed pretty typical to me of the type of comedy done back then, no better, no worse.

David Niven was a remarkable man who died an awful death from ALS. An accomplished writer as well as actor, he was a gentleman through and through. When he died, the porters at Heathrow sent a wreath that said, 'To the finest gentleman who ever walked through these halls. He made a porter feel like a king'.

Well-produced movie, dreadful plot

[handhauau · 3/10 · 15 June 2014]

David Niven is famous and wealthy. He's also very vain, self-centred, a habitual liar and will do anything to get his own way. He relies on the goodness of others, encouraging them to do the right thing while he does anything but. He is thoroughly unlikable and even early in the movie I was hoping for him to go splat in one of his ridiculous aerial jumps. At the very least, Broderick should have broken his jaw. However he succeeds in snatching Loretta away from Broderick Crawford, not once but twice, and ends up with Loretta at the end. Has he mended his ways? There is no suggestion in the movie that he has. He's a snake to the end. The house they go to isn't the one Loretta built for them (the one she gave him for free and he took his new girlfriend there) as the sign says they've just bought it. Loretta makes one courageous break for freedom in the movie, but she has 'doormat' written all over her forehead. This movie sets male/female relationships back a thousand years - unless you believe that women are really that dumb and shallow and that conceited liars make the most successful men.

A charming David Niven makes the film...

[cluciano63 · 7/10 · 27 July 2012]

worth watching. A perfect role for him, as a charming, suave ladies man who entertains as a professional escape artist and magician. This must have been one of his earlier starring roles. I know when he first landed up in Hollywood, he met Loretta Young and her sisters and mother almost at once, and they took him under their collective wings, helping him break into the business. He and Loretta always claimed they were only close friends, brother/sister-type, which was probably true overall, but Niven was such a ladies man, it is hard to believe they didn't share at least a brief fling along the way. Soon after this film was made, Niven was off to war for England and out of movies until 1945.(except for a few war films).

This film is interesting in part for the professions of the characters, as escape artist and assistant/wife, played by Loretta. It was rare at the time to have wives working alongside their husbands. Early in the film, Loretta's character is footloose and loving the life on the road with her husband, exotic and exciting travels, etc. But since this is 1939 and a post-code film, she will change her mind and be craving a white picket fence with hearth and home before long...

I am not a huge LY fan, but do prefer her in these earlier movies to anything she made after the forties. She was still a bit of a good-time girl in her twenties, and it showed in her acting. Later on, she seemed stiffer. Supporting actors are all good as is direction.

Too Many Cooks and Cutters

[dougdoepke · 24 April 2022]

Plot: Anita (Young) divorces Tony (Niven) because he appears both unfaithful and more interested in his magic show than her. But despite their separation and new partners, the mutual attraction remains. So what will happen now.

Despite the two scintillating A-list leads, Niven and Young, the flick fails to gel. Maybe that's because I saw a badly edited version whose unfortunate number IMDB points out. Then again, maybe it's the cluttered result of 8 writers working on the same screenplay, which seldom works. Also, it's apparent the producers were clearly worried about the watchdog censors of The Motion Picture Code, since much of the narrative plays around with non-marital sex and how their characters might avoid it. Unfortunately, the solutions are highly contrived (e.g. Crawford getting the clumsy run-around from Young since they're not really married). Still and all, production did manage to sneak in a double bed for N &Y's early wedded bliss, a bed that also symbolizes their enduring love despite the many difficulties.

On the upside are magician Niven's stage tricks and a look at how they're done, though I found his should-be-suspenseful parachuting poorly done (needs more close-ups of his struggling while falling). On the other hand, there's the many close-ups of the lovely Loretta, a wholesome darling. And on a more minor note, how about a youngish Broderick Crawford as a romantic interest - that sure took me some getting used to.

Anyway, too bad the different parts of the romantic comedy fail to gel and that it took 8 writers to apparently keep the censors at bay. Nonetheless, the two photogenic leads show why their careers were long and popular despite the let-down here.

Eternally Yours is Forever Bland **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 28 July 2012]

Routine film with Loretta Young married to magician David Niven. After a misunderstanding, she divorces him and weds of all people, Broderick Crawford. Crawford, who always could be counted as being a heavy in films is really a guy coming off as a fool. Somewhat such as Ralph Bellamy would have been far better suited for the part.

Of course, Young still loves Niven so the end is so very obvious.

Even the very comical ZaSu Pitts is greatly subdued here; she still made those famous gestures of hers with her hands.

It's amazing that I always found the Young-Niven pictures to be very bland in nature. Perhaps, they really should have tried great drama together.

While it's far from perfect, the acting is good and the story enjoyable.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 30 April 2011]

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!!

Hold on for Dear Wife

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 30 April 2011]

Beautifully dressed Loretta Young (as Anita) goes to a magic show and is stricken with love for "The Great Arturo" magician David Niven (as Tony Halstead), and he returns her love at first sight. They are quickly married with Ms. Young becoming Mr. Niven's on-stage female assistant. However, Young doesn't like Niven's popularity with the ladies and frets when he starts performing daredevil stunts like jumping out of airplanes in handcuffs. Consequently, Young decides to perform a "disappearing act" of her own. Will "Eternally Yours" live up to its title?

**** Eternally Yours (10/7/39) Tay Garnett ~ David Niven, Loretta Young, Broderick Crawford, Hugh Herbert

A nice classic comedy

[canario · 8/10 · 5 January 1999]

This is a nice classic comedy about the romance between a bishop´s granddaughter and a successful magician. Although it isn´t a typical screwball comedy it has the usual charm of the 30´s. One of the things I most like in the film is the naturality of the characters and the relationships between them, without any superfual mildness. It´s also a film about marriage and divorce in a way that I find outstanding for that time and it´s full of funny and emotive situations in the way of films like Ernst Lubitsch Bluebeard´s Eighth Wife. In a funny way, i just want to comment one detail that makes me laugh but I don't know if that was the original intention. It is near to the end, when the magician is going to make one his most dangerous tricks and his assistant wants to stop him because is going to kill himself. The magician calls the police to take the assistant away from him and says: "arrest him, he is a communist!". And it wasn´t witch-hunt time yet!!

Worth seeing!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 12 March 2016]

Stylishly produced with a great cast, an able director and a fine photographer, but a super-thin story, "Eternally Yours" is a bit of a disappointment. Pitts hasn't much of a role, but Walburn is a delight. Niven, Young (beautifully photographed) and Crawford labor enthusiastically, but the film, despite its lavish dressing, is also a bit disappointing from the director's angle too. Aside from a few optical tricks with imaginative lighting and one or two amusing juxtapositions – Arturo's poster contrasted with Niven searching for his collar button – it lacks Garnett's usual zip, drive and flair. Whilst the direction is efficient, it only occasionally offers that magic ingredient of imaginative fervor – such as the business with the rabbits – that distinguishes Garnett's best films.

No imagination to the story

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 15 February 2018]

The title song played over the credits is very pretty, and Werner Janssen's score was nominated for Best Music in 1940. However, after the opening credits are done, the movie goes downhill. Eternally Yours belongs to the group of films that tells wives in the audience to support their husbands no matter how mean, selfish, and inattentive they are. If you don't like that message, you won't like this movie.

Loretta Young starts the movie engaged to Broderick Crawford, but when she goes with her girlfriends to see David Niven, a famous magician, it's love at first sight. So far so good. But is there a secret twist to their love-was he hypnotizing her or using a magic trick to win her love? No, there's neither imagination nor secret twists in Gene Towne's and C. Graham Baker's script. Countless times I thought the story would turn in a different, clever direction but it never did. Loose ends aren't tied, and inventive plot lines aren't explored. As much as I love David Niven, this isn't one of his good movies.

If the parachute doesn't open, they give you a new one.

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 18 August 2017]

The first half of the film is generally feel good, with much kissing, hugging and "Darling" talk between stars David Niven and Loretta Young, both of whom come across as charming. They are immediately attracted to each other, and before we know it, they're married and she is serving as his assistant in his magic shows.

But, as we begin the second half, things begin to get rocky, generally less interesting, and more contrived. Niven refuses to take seriously Loretta's hints that she is weary of living out of a suitcase. She wants him to slow down and not accept every offer of a global tour. She's also weary of worrying that he will soon die from his solo act where he jumps from 15,000 feet with a parachute, but with his hands behind his back, handcuffed. She reveals that she has financed the building of a charming country house, and strongly hints that she wants to spend some time with him there in the near future. But, he ignores this hint, having recently received an offer for a world tour with his airplane jump stunt.

Thus, without consulting Niven, Loretta goes off to Reno with her aunt(Billie Burke)to file for a quickie divorce, complaining that she doesn't feel needed any more. After the divorce, she immediately takes a cruise. Low and behold, her old boyfriend Don(Broderick Crawford)is aboard. Loretta soon convinces him to marry her, and they have the ship captain perform the ceremony. Meanwhile , Niven continues to perform his magic tricks, now with Lola(Virginia Fields) as his assistant.

Niven arranges that he keeps bumping into Don and Loretta, so that he can recapture her, if he can talk to her. It's not hard to see that she still loves him as a person. They have a romantic ride on an ice skiff with sail, where they talk things over, and kiss. I'll leave the rather rushed finale for you to see.

Unfortunately, the various 'name' secondary players don't add much interest to the film. Billie Burke, of course, played the good witch in "The Wizard of Oz".

Loretta and Niven were major characters in several other films: "Four Men and a Prayer", "Three Bind Mice" and, later, "The Bishop's Wife", with Cary Grant.

See it at YouTube.

Love and Magic

[lugonian · 6/10 · 11 February 2022]

ETERNALLY YOURS (United Artists, 1939), a Walter Wanger Presentation directed by Tay Garnett, is a light romantic comedy with familiar overtones assisted by magical ideas thrown in for good measure. Starring Loretta Young and David Niven, their third collaboration and first in which they are the main attractions to an original screenplay written by Graham Baker and Gene Towne, about a magician's love for a lovely lady engaged to another.

As the opening credits get underway with an offscreen male vocalist singing the title tune, the story begins with a view of New York City followed by a bridal shower taking place at the Angel's Rectory, founded by Bishop Hubert Peabody, grandfather of its guest of honor, Anita Halstead (Loretta Young), engaged to Don Burns (Broderick Crawford). Along with her assortment of female guests, including her best friend, Gloria (Eve Arden) and Aunt Abbey (Billie Burke), Anita acquires an advertisement introducing debonair magician and mind reader, Tony Halstead, better known as The Great Auturo (David Niven), to which she and her friends decide to attend his special afternoon engagement for ladies to see what their future foretells. Of the many ladies surrounding Arturo, he immediately spots and becomes attracted to Anita. Following his private reading with her, Arturo and Anita get married. With Anita acting as his assistant, they go on a world tour performing magic acts. Eighteen months later while in England, Anita feels its about time she and Tony settle down for a normal married life in Connecticut. Tony, however, has other plans. After doing his death defying stunt jumping 100,000 feet from an airplane with his hands handcuffed behind his back with only moments to free himself and open his parachute in time for a safe landing, Arturo intends on resuming this dangerous act. Unable to live in worry any further, Anita leaves and divorces Tony. She later resuming her relationship with Don and marries him, while Lola DeVere (Virginia Field) becomes Arturo's new assistant. While his divorce from Anita finds him incapable of performing successfully, his next trick is to get Anita back.

ETERNALLY YOURS is helped considerably by its worthy cast of Hugh Herbert as Arturo's servant, Benton, breaking away from his typical buffoonery by playing it straight; Raymond Walburn and Zasu Pitts as the Binghams, Harley and Cary; Ralph Graves (Mr. Morrissey); Fred Keating (Master of Ceremonies) and its director, Tay Garnett, as the airplane pilot. In spite of its impressive cast, the end result is a fairly amusing comedy. Loretta Young (with some extreme close-ups) and David Niven (in his star making performance) do well in their initial lead pairing. Though it contains no slapstick nor climatic chases, the death defying airplane jumping sequence is both exciting and fearful. Young and Niven would team again a couple more times in the 1940s, with the Christmas fantasy of THE BISHOP'S WIFE (RKO Radio, 1947) opposite Cary Grant, to be their most famous and possibly best collaboration of all time.

As much as ETERNALLY YOURS has played regularly on commercial television since the 1950s, its renewed interest and rediscovery turned up further in the 1980s when shown on public television, availability on video cassette and decades later, on DVD. Cable television showings over the years included the Nik-at-Night Movie, Arts and Entertainment and finally Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: July 25, 2012). Being a public domain title, ETERNALLY YOURS at least is a look back at future Academy Award winners of Loretta Young, David Niven and Broderick Crawford in material quite common then and something worth having a look today. (**1/2)

No amount of magic can keep this marriage together.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 10 April 2014]

Loretta Young, years before becoming David Niven's spouse as "The Bishop's Wife", was "The Bishop's Daughter", an ironic detail about her career. She's the lively daughter of feisty C. Aubrey Smith, a hands-on bishop who at one point is seen teaching his juvenile charges how to box. Young goes to a magic show where she meets magician David Niven and before she can get the chance to express her cynicism, she is totally entranced by his charm, and very shortly his assistant and wife. But he's consumed with his career, and when he makes a drunken promise to jump out of a plane while handcuffed, she knows she could loose him, either to a fatal accident if he can't get freed, or to the love of his popularity, which explodes as the date of this stunt arises. So it is no shock that as he becomes a major star, she becomes disgruntled with being second fiddle and decides to take a powder, literally disappearing from his life altogether.

There's a charming little romantic comedy with light humor inside this slow moving bore that only gets a few minor laughs here and there. It certainly doesn't come from its cast of comical supporting actors which includes brief appearances by Eve Arden (as Young's pal in the beginning; She gets her own magic by disappearing from the film altogether after two nice scenes), Billie Burke (as Young's aunt who seems to be there only to get her name in the credits) and Zasu Pitts (as a social acquaintance who only briefly gets fluttery in her traditional standard). Hugh Herbert, the "woo woo" king of Warner Brothers comedies and musicals of the 30's, plays mostly straight here, only briefly going down familiar territory as Niven's valet.

Then, there's Broderick Crawford who becomes the next man in Young's life as she moves on from Niven. It's obvious that he's the Ralph Bellamy character in this missed opportunity directed by Tay Garnett. A cute little finale involving Niven's magic prop rabbit brings on one of the only real laughs in the film.

galaxy of stars in here

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 26 March 2018]

Some BIG BIG names in this one. Loretta Young, David Niven, Hugh Herbert. Billie Burke, Sir Aubrey Smith. and of course, my hero, the cynical, sarcastic Eve Arden! and of course Zasu PItts. In the story, Niven is Arturo, see-er of the future, and he is taken with Anita (Young). They travel around the world for Arturo's act, but Anita is getting sick of the road. Then Arturo takes on a dare, which risks his life. and Anita doesn't like it at all. Then he refuses to come off the road, and Anita is off to divorce court. Then they spend the rest of the film running into each other, antagonizing each other, if un-intentionally. The last twenty minutes are a bit annoying... Anita's new husband won't stand up for her, and he also lets his boss run all over him, even when Anita gets ill and wants to leave. A little disappointing.... with that great cast, I was hoping for more. It's all perfectly well done, but they all seem to be fighting for the spotlight. and the story kind of loses its way in the second half. we were supporting Anita when she was in love with, and married to the new husband, but then she doesn't seem to know who she wants, and if SHE doesn't know, why should WE care what happens? I hope it all gets worked out by the end. I can see why its not rated very high, even with all those big names. the ending is a little too abrupt and random. i wonder if the ending was changed along the way to suit audience preferences...

'We always did it at the finish of every act'

[Cristi_Ciopron · 4/10 · 19 October 2009]

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').

Eternally Yours

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 27 February 2023]

David Niven and Loretta Young definitely had an on-screen chemistry between them, but it's not so obvious in this rather procedural comedy romance. He is "Tony", a famous and successful magician who easily captivates the heart of "Anita". Now she has already promised to marry the reliable "Burns" (an adequate Broderick Crawford) but is now determined to join her new beau on his grand tour. Now "Tony" - or the modestly monikered "Great Arturo" is not only a bit of a Lothario - which annoys her; but he is also putting life and limb on the line on stage - and that terrifies her. All that sustains her is his promise that one day, they will return to a quiet life in a rose-covered cottage. Might that ever happen or might she just decide that he will never change? It has something of a love-triangle nature to it, and the love is not just aimed at people ("Tony" is just as addicted to his performing as he is to anything else). The dialogue is a bit strained, that chemistry isn't really on display and after a while the film started to struggle under the weight of it's own limitations. It does, occasionally, pull off the gag - but even they are predictable and as we drift towards a conclusion that I didn't much care for at all. I sort of wondered what the whole point of this was? It is watchable for the stars, and the always reliable Sir C. Aubrey Smith and Zasu Pitts - but this is nobody's most memorable work, I'm afraid.

MIddling comedy merely stumbles along

[rockymark-30974 · 3/10 · 15 January 2024]

It's difficult to find anything nice to say about this middling comedy starring Loretta Young and David Niven. I tried getting through it the first time but gave up after, without rhyme or reason, following a ridiculous "coup de foudre" as the French say, or love at first sight,("thunderbolt"), we find that Young and Niven are married, as if the writers were too lazy to explain how it could happen.

To make things worse, most of the film is built around hoary magic tricks that most people get tired of in high school. Why sit through a film watching them?

David Niven is always a delight to watch but, though I'm a Loretta Young fan and believe she had no equal in the 1930s and again in the 1950s (her TV show) here she looks awful in most of the film, especially at the end.

If there was a potentially sparkling comedy in this film it was in the rivalry between Niven and Broderick Crawford, cast in an unusual role. There was a genuine making of an "His Girl Friday* rivalry such as between Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy in that film, but, unfortunately, the director missed the opportunity. Yet that's the only time when this film comes alive, often superbly.

Another problem with the film is the jaundiced moral values involved. I'm hardly a puritan but it seems unnecessarily cruel to marry someone on the rebound and then string him along until the former partner shows up again. It undermines whatever comedic intent the film had in writing such a relationship at all. If the Crawford character had cruelly blackmailed Young's character into the marriage it would have been different, and he we would have enjoyed him getting his comeuppance. But as it is we don't enjoy it at all.

As for the title song, it must be among the worst nominated songs in film history.

Excellent characters. Great Chemistry.

[javalorum · 10/10 · 15 June 1999]

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.

One thing stands out...

[peaksee · 6/10 · 24 November 2022]

Watching a beat up copy on Tubi in 2022.... Wonder if anyone else noticed at the start of the opening credits the title reading '"Movies for Television"? Television was in it's earliest stage then and with World's Fair promising so many future advancements, this seemed to be a nice tie-in at the time.

Of course, the impeccable David Niven and lovely Loretta Young carry this film along...but Eve Arden adds fun to the production. Of course, to me, this is the same person nearly unchanged in her real TV program "Our Miss Brooks" which I grew up watching as a child!

And, it's interesting to see a very young Broderick Crawford playing a nice guy early in his career.

Eternally Yours

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 9 December 2023]

Eternally Yours is a lacklustre romantic comedy. Despite the charms of David Niven, his character is not a nice person

Niven plays Tony, a magician and hypnotist known as the The Great Arturo. He falls immediately in love with Anita (Loretta Young.)

Tony finds fame and fortune with a death-defying act where he jumps out of a plane in handcuffs. He needs to free himself in time to activate the parachute.

With a well paid international tour beckoning. Anita wants something more domesticated, a dream home rather than travel from place to place. She leaves him and divorces him.

Only Tony can never get over Anita despite his own infidelities. While Anita marries Don (Broderick Crawford) her old fiance.

However fate brings Tony and Anita together again. This time Tony wants to win her back for good.

The film suffers from shallow selfish characters.

OK for its day, but quite a ho-hum film beyond the mid-20th century

[SimonJack · 6/10 · 21 August 2021]

"Eternally Yours" is a 1939 romance and drama with a touch of comedy. This is the type of film that naturally would be much more appealing to the audiences of the day just for the stars. David Niven and Loretta Young were at the pinnacle of their film careers - which would still endure for at least another decade. The plot revolves around a magician, The Great Arturo, played by Niven. He aspires to greatness, so mere magic isn't good enough for him - he soon begins doing daring escape ventures of the Houdini type.

Young is the granddaughter of an Episcopal bishop, played by C. Aubrey Smith. She falls for Arturo and they marry. While he loves his wife, he has a huge ego and is driven to achieve fame and remain in the limelight. When she finally can't stand the worry any longer, and he won't settle down, she divorces him and later marries another man. Broderick Crawford plays Don Burns.

The story has a common thread from there on with Arturo (i.e., Tony) trying to win back Anita (Young) but continuing to clash with his drive for recognition.

The cast has prominent players of the period - Billie Burke as Anita's Aunt Abby, Zasu Pits as Mrs. Bingham, Hugh Herbert as Niven's man, Benton, Eve Arden as Gloria and others. Except for the daring scenes with Niven's Arturo, there's little to be excited about in this film. As a couple of other reviewers have noted, part of the movie was filmed at the New York World's Fair.

Most audiences today would probably find this film rather dull and uninteresting. Indeed, the only reason to see it is for the fine cast - especially Young, Billie Burke and C. Aubrey Smith.