Forever, Darling (1956)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writer:

Helen Deutsch (written by)

Release Date:

9 February 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Comedy

Plot:

Susan and Lorenzo have been married for over five years and they are starting to drift apart. So into her life comes an angel...

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Wife And Husband Lead Actors

Cast

Lucille Ball	...	Susan Vega
Desi Arnaz	...	Lorenzo Xavier Vega
James Mason	...	The Guardian Angel
Louis Calhern	...	Charles Y. Bewell
John Emery	...	Dr. Edward R. Winter
John Hoyt	...	Bill Finlay
Natalie Schafer	...	Millie Opdyke
Mabel Albertson	...	Society Reporter
Ralph Dumke	...	Henry Opdyke
Nancy Kulp	...	Amy, the Maid
Willis Bouchey	...	Mr. Oliver Clinton (as Willis B. Bouchey)
Ruth Brady	...	Laura

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Zanra Productions

Trivia:

The script to this movie had been around for years at MGM. It was originally going to be a movie for William Powell and Myrna Loy. A couple years later it was planned for Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. However both projects fell through and the script was forgotten about. Years later Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz showed interest in making another movie and they picked this script for their next movie.

Quotes:

Susan: [mosquitoes] Seems a shame to wake them up so early just to kill 'em.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Forever, Darling

It seems to last forever...

Squabbling marrieds Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are given marital help from Lucy's guardian angel, played with self-bemusement by James Mason. The big joke in the material is that Ball's character sees the angel as a dead-ringer for Mason the Movie Star, but that's about the only laugh to be had in this lead weight scenario. Knowing what we do now about the troubled real-life relationship between Ball and Arnaz (big television stars by this point), it's only unease we get from watching them constantly bickering on the screen. I doubt the film was very fresh even in 1956, mostly due to the turgid, hapless screenplay by the normally talented Helen Deutsch. Nothing on display here is diverting, with the jokes, costumes, pacing, and production all sub-standard. Any mid-run episode of "I Love Lucy" runs rings around this comedic misfire. NO STARS from ****