Main Cast: Loretta Young, David Niven, Billie Burke, Hugh Herbert, C. Aubrey Smith
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Anita's (Loretta Young) life seems to be progressing nicely. She's engaged to Don Barnes (Broderick Crawford), a wealthy man that will give her all the stability and comfort a woman could desire. But then she meets a magician with the unlikely name of The Great Arturo (David Niven), who performs a singular feat of magic -- he sweeps her off her feet. Promptly dropping Barnes, she weds Arturo and travels the globe as his assistant. After some time, however, the magic begins to wear off and Anita longs for a simpler life, perhaps on a quite farmhouse in the country. She's also a bit put out by Arturo's flirting with other women, but what really worries her are the dangerous stunts he has added to his repertoire. Realizing it is time for her to do something, she pulls a little magic of her own and disappear, forcing Artuto to set off on a lively chase to find her. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Review
Considering the presence of David Niven and Loretta Young, it's surprising that Eternally Yours isn't a more engaging little film. Granted, Eternally has the handicap of a predictable and manipulative screenplay, one that asks its audience to accept a lot of nonsense and that doesn't come across with much in the way of a reward for the viewers' efforts. Still, Niven and Young are so utterly charming, so thoroughly winning, that one really wants to like Eternally more than one ultimately is able to. Despite the efforts of three (credited) screenwriters, the script feels as if it were put together by taking part "a" from this typical scenario and putting it with part "b," then part "c." And the conflict that is supposed to form the core of the plot is never really resolved: Young marries the always-on-the-go Niven despite the fact that what she wants is to settle down in Connecticut and leaves him when he can't change his traveling ways. Yet when Niven wins her back and settles down with her, he hasn't changed a bit, and viewers are left wondering if in four or five months their happy little love nest will have crumbled. If the writers had actively pursued that kind of option, Eternally might have had some interest, as well as a little bite and something to say. Instead, it just ambles along, depending on its marvelous stars to carry the film all by themselves. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
