Watching classic films shows you that the Hollywood of yesteryear was not all that different than what it is today, in one narrow sense. That is a sideways way of saying it is totally different. Where they intersect is in the way stars are still stars. Still, not all these leading lights are as memorable today as back in the 1930s, for example. One of these I wish was more remembered is Loretta Young, if for no other reason than she was a Catholic. My favorite role of hers is Come to the Stable (1949), a film in which she plays a nun. If that sort of fare is not your thing, then she has plenty of other options, and I have yet to see a bad one. Today’s entry, Eternally Yours (1939), is no exception.
Today’s example has Young in Eternally Yours (1939), which finds her playing Anita, who is preparing to marry Don Barnes (Broderick Crawford), a dependable but rather dull suitor who seems more enthusiastic about fresh air than romance. Shortly before the wedding, she attends a performance by the celebrated magician known as the Great Arturo. When Arturo, whose real name is Tony Halstead (David Niven), invites her to participate in his act, the attraction between them is immediate. Anita abandons her plans to marry Don and instead becomes Tony’s wife and stage assistant. Eighteen months later, the newlyweds have become an international theatrical sensation, traveling from one engagement to another. Their glamorous life, however, is beginning to wear on Anita. During a visit from her friend Gloria (Eve Arden) in London, Anita admits that she wants a settled home and children rather than a lifetime spent moving between hotels and theaters. Tony loves her, but he is determined that their marriage should never become ordinary. He resists the idea of settling down and enjoys the attention that comes with his celebrity, even leaving Anita to overlook lipstick marks on his collar. His devotion to showmanship soon creates a more serious problem. While drinking with a female reporter, Tony boasts that he can leap from an airplane with his hands handcuffed behind his back, free himself during the fall, and open his parachute before hitting the ground. The boast becomes news, and Anita is horrified at the danger. Tony promises to abandon the stunt, and even arranges to appear at the airport with his arm in a cast as an excuse for withdrawing. But the sight of a large crowd waiting for him proves irresistible. He breaks the cast, makes the jump, and survives to the delight of his admirers. Anita extracts another promise that he will not repeat the feat. Six months later, he has performed it repeatedly in cities around the world. Hoping to persuade him to embrace a quieter life, Anita secretly purchases a cottage in Connecticut and anticipates a two-month holiday when his tour ends. Tony scarcely notices her plans and instead commits himself to another lengthy tour. Realizing that his career will always come first, Anita walks away before the start of a second tour, using her staged disappearance to make a real departure. She returns to America and seeks refuge with her grandfather, Bishop Hubert Peabody (C. Aubrey Smith), whom she affectionately calls Gramps. With the help of her Aunt Abbey (Billie Burke), she obtains what she believes is a divorce in Reno. Unknown to her, however, the proceedings are invalid because Tony was never properly notified. Tony, meanwhile, discovers that losing Anita is considerably more painful than losing an audience. He visits Gramps and develops a friendship with him, but the bishop does not know where Anita has gone. Tony spends heavily trying to find her, and when he hears that she has divorced him, his distress causes him to botch a performance. He withdraws from the stage for a year. During that time, Anita travels with Abbey, who arranges for her former fiancé Don to join them on a cruise. Convinced that a safe, predictable marriage is preferable to the uncertainty she experienced with Tony, Anita agrees to marry Don, and the ship’s captain conducts the ceremony. Back in New York, Don takes his new wife to meet his employer, Mr. Bingham (Raymond Walburn), at a nightclub. To Anita’s dismay, the evening’s entertainment is Tony, now performing with a new assistant, Lola De Vere (Virginia Field). Still determined to win Anita back, Tony contrives an invitation to a weekend gathering at the Binghams’ country estate, where Anita and Don are also staying. Mrs. Bingham (ZaSu Pitts) struggles with the sleeping arrangements, and Tony takes advantage of the confusion to remain close to Anita. Don’s misfortunes include an injury that leaves him temporarily incapacitated, while Tony repeatedly tries to convince Anita that they belong together. She refuses to return to him, although her feelings have plainly not disappeared. Gramps learns that Anita’s divorce from Tony was never legally completed, making her subsequent marriage to Don invalid, but chooses not to reveal this immediately. He wants Anita to decide whom she loves rather than have the choice made for her. Matters come to a head when Anita learns that Tony plans to revive his perilous parachute escape at the New York World’s Fair. Knowing he has been away from the stunt for a year, she rushes to prevent it. Tony has prepared a hidden lockpick to help release his handcuffs, but a last-minute change of aircraft leaves the tool in the wrong plane. He jumps anyway and struggles to free himself as the ground approaches. He manages to release the cuffs too late to make a safe landing and plunges into the water. When rescuers pull him out unconscious, Anita hurries to his side. His recovery makes it impossible for her to conceal her love, and Don graciously steps aside. The film ends with Tony and Anita arriving at the Connecticut cottage she had wanted all along, ready to try marriage again with a greater appreciation of what matters beyond the spotlight.
As the camera pans away from Anita and Tony at the end of Eternally Yours, we see a pair of rabits, which I am guessing is meant to be a symbol of future fertility. There are a few misconceptions to handle in the film, one of which are related to these animals typically associated with magic. They often get associated with Easter, the holiest of days for Christians. Indeed, this has nothing to do with Christianity, at least not at its roots, having come to us from pagan German roots. Any tie between these cuddly creatures and Easter can loosely be traced to the fact that the holiday falls in the spring, which is a time or renewal and resurrection. Still, that is me using the film for my own agenda. The other aspect that needs addressing is Bishop Peabody, who you might mistake for a member of the Catholic clergy. The problem is that he is never specifically named as being a member of the Church. This is somewhat disappointing because the first shot of the movie features Dan knocking on the door of Angel’s rectory. What you are seeing with these things is Hollywood trying to indicate a sort of bland Christianity without specifically saying it. With Gramps’ collar and the place where he lives, one can make the assumption of a specific denomination, but again, it is not one the movie makes. Nor is it particularly germane to the overall story. The main thrust is the relationship between Anita and Tony, which is fraught with issues with which a Catholic might quibble. While I did enjoy what I watched, I felt bad for Dan. He might be a simpleton, but he did nothing wrong. The problem is that he and Anita are not well suited for each other. This is why the Church recommends a long period of discernment for couples before they wed. There is no tried and true formula that guarantees a long and fruitful marriage. The Spirit can move anyone as God wishes, and we do best by obeying Him. Thus, a person can be in a relationship and then feel prompted in another direction, which is sort of what you are seeing in this one.
You also see a number of other strange moments in Eternally Yours, such as when Anita and Tony first get together. They stare at each other for a moment, and in the next scene they are husband and wife. The hypnotism scene is not ideal, either. Otherwise, I have no complaints.
