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Keely_morris1
Reviews
Made for Each Other (1939)
All in all, a pretty entertaining film
Made for Each Other is a very entertaining film if one does not expect too much. As other reviewers have noted, perhaps it is only for die-hard fans of James Stewart and Carole Lombard, and as I am a huge fan of both, perhaps that is why I enjoyed it.
The plot surrounds John and Jane Mason who get married only after knowing each other for a short time. Their relationship grows cumbersome when John's disapproving mother moves into the household as well as a new baby. To add to their stresses is John's job, which leaves the Masons in poor financial straits. In a melodramatic, rather ridiculous ending, the baby is hopelessly ill and without the help of some serum, is not expected to live. In true Hollywood fashion, the serum is delivered and John and Jane are happy again.
Made for Each Other was produced by David O. Selznick and one wonders, with his meticulous nature of scrutinizing his productions, if he was too busy prodding the crew on Gone With the Wind to take notice on anything that was going on the set for this film. However, IMDb trivia states that Selznick included the cheeky ending as an homage to his brother who apparently had the same situation as baby. Nevertheless, without the ending, this film is charming. James Stewart and Carole Lombard play their parts to perfection. Lombard, especially, demonstrates her versatility in this film. However, one wonders if Stewart and Lombard knew how hopeless and unrealistic this ending was when they were filming it. It's hard to believe that they didn't, but perhaps they thought that they would be able to carry it through. Unfortunately, even with the presence of two luminescent stars, this ending falls short. Had Selznick and his writers left the ending to John and Jane solving their marital troubles in the same accord as the rest of the film, Made for Each Other would have been far better.
Nonetheless, for any fan of Lombard or Stewart, this is a film definitely worth seeing. It showcases both in their prime and if you disregard the slaughterhouse of an ending, is thoroughly enjoyable.
Gable and Lombard (1976)
Mediocre, brash, and impudent
To be frank, this film was nothing but a ghost of one of the greatest love stories in Hollywood. When looking at it from a purely fictional standpoint, Gable and Lombard could be a mildly entertaining film, which is why I gave it a three to save it from utter ruination. But when looking from a historical standpoint and becoming familiar with the real Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, one realizes how ridiculous this film really is. The poorly written script should have been based upon the novel by Warren G. Harris rather than fantasy while the casting offices should have looked for actors better suited for the parts. While James Brolin did what he could with a poorly written part, he certainly was no Gable and ended up performing a dull imitation of one of the greatest legends Hollywood has ever known. But my main concern was with the terrible miscasting of Jill Clayburgh as the iconoclastic Lombard. She was entirely wrong for the part in both physicality and personality and ended up coming off as crude and impudent. The real Lombard was hardly such and while she used the language that Clayburgh shouted over and over again in the film, in reality it did not come off in the cheap manner that Clayburgh performed it in. Those closest to Lombard said she used class with her swearing and certainly Clayburgh was entirely incapable of portraying the class associated with Lombard's personality. While Clayburgh is not a terrible actress, she could not become the essence of Lombard and again it eventuated in a cheap mimicry of one of Hollywood's most signature actresses. Addressing that other problem associated with Clayburgh's casting, her nonexistent physical resemblance to the real Lombard, comes off as a travesty. While I would normally overlook poor physical resemblances to the real life people an actor is portraying, it was nearly impossible to do whilst watching a tall, shrill woman portraying a woman who, in reality, was petite and classy. I will grant that Clayburgh, perhaps, did all that she could to capture Lombard but certainly it did not seem so when watching this pathetic film.
Gable and Lombard eventuated in a shrewd, mediocre film that is not worth the time that it takes in dragging the viewer through the unbearable misrepresentations of various figures of Hollywood's classic period. If you are brilliant enough of a magician to suspend the image of the real Clark Gable and Carole Lombard long enough to see through the historical inaccuracies and rather mediocre acting, Gable and Lombard can be enjoyable. Certainly, I wouldn't be one to suggest it.