Made for Each Other is a 1939 American romantic comedy film directed by John Cromwell, produced by David O. Selznick, and starring Carole Lombard, James Stewart, and Charles Coburn. Lombard and Stewart portray a couple who get married after only knowing each other for one day.
| Made for Each Other | |
|---|---|
 1939 theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | John Cromwell |
| Screenplay by | Jo Swerling Frank Ryan (uncredited) |
| Story by | Rose Franken |
| Produced by | David O. Selznick |
| Starring | Carole Lombard James Stewart |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | James E. Newcom |
| Music by | Oscar Levant (uncredited) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The film is now in the public domain in the United States, with the original film negative owned by Disney.[1]
Plot
editJohn Mason is a young attorney in New York City and a milquetoast. He works for Judge Doolittle and has been doing his job well, and he has a chance of being made a partner in his law firm, especially if he marries Eunice, the daughter of his employer, Judge Doolittle. However, John meets Jane during a business trip, and they fall in love and marry immediately. Eunice eventually marries another lawyer in the firm, Carter. John's impertinent mother is disappointed with his choice, and an important trial forces him to cancel the honeymoon. He wins the case, but by that time Judge Doolittle has chosen John's kowtowing yes-man coworker Carter as the new partner.
After they have a baby, Jane encourages John to demand a raise and a promotion, but with finances tightened by the Depression, before John has a chance to demand more, Doolittle instead requires that all employees accept pay cuts. After Jane has a baby, John becomes discouraged by his unpaid bills, and his mother, who lives with them in their small apartment, is destroying their marriage.
At home, John's mother comes to live with them, causing a stream of different housekeepers each to quit. John's mother gives the baby a bad cold.
On New Year's Eve, 1938–39, the couple go out to celebrate alone. As Auld Lang Syne is sung, Jane decides to phone home and discovers their child is sick. The baby is rushed to the hospital with pneumonia. The baby will die within hours unless a serum is delivered by plane from Salt Lake City. Doolittle agrees to provide the $5000 funding to deliver the serum, but with a storm raging, and with a wife and children to consider, the pilot refuses to fly. John pleads over the telephone, and the pilot's unmarried friend takes the job, agreeing to give the first pilot half in order to borrow the plane or all if he is killed. He gets into the small biplane in heavy snow. The new pilot almost crashes in the mountains, and the plane's engine catches fire over the Allegheny River, a short distance from New York. He parachutes out clutching the serum. The pilot is injured on landing and knocked unconscious, but he crawls to a nearby farm house after he recovers. The farmer sees the box containing the serum and telephones the hospital, and the baby is saved. A few months later, John is made partner at the law firm and his son speaks his first words.
Cast
edit- Carole Lombard as Jane Mason
- James Stewart as John Horace Mason
- Charles Coburn as Judge Joseph M. Doolittle
- Lucile Watson as Mrs. Harriet Mason
- Eddie Quillan as Conway the pilot
- Alma Kruger as Sister Madeline
- Louise Beavers as Lily, Cook #3 (uncredited)
- Ward Bond as Jim Hatton (uncredited)
- Donald Briggs as Mr. Carter (uncredited)
- Esther Dale as Annie, Cook #1 (uncredited)
- Harry Davenport as Dr. Healy (uncredited)
- Fern Emmett as Famer's Wife (uncredited)
- Ruth Gillette as Tipsy Blonde at New Year's Eve Party (uncredited)
- Olin Howland as Farmer (uncredited)
- Nella Walker as Dr. Langham's Nurse-Receptionist (uncredited)
- Mary Field as Johns Hopkins technician (uncredited)
- Milburn Stone as Newark official (uncredited)
Reception and legacy
editFrank S. Nugent of The New York Times called the film "thoroughly delightful",[2] but it lost $292,000 at the box office.[3]
The film was re-edited into a short film by Jeff Baena for an episode of the Showtime anthology series Cinema Toast. Lombard, Stewart, Charles Coburn, and Lucile Watson were dubbed by Alison Brie, John Reynolds, Nick Offerman, and Megan Mullally, respectively.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Scott MacQueen and Phil Feiner (August 1, 2000). "First Person: Restoring Film with Digital Recombination". Millimeter Magazine. Prism Business Media. Archived from the original on June 1, 2006.
- ^ Nugent, Frank S. (1939-02-17). "In the Best of Humors Is 'Made for Each Other,' at the Music Hall--New Western at the Rialto". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
- ^ David Thomson, Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick, Abacus, 1993 p. 269
External links
edit
- Made for Each Other at the TCM Movie Database
- Made for Each Other at IMDb
- Made for Each Other at AllMovie
- Made for Each Other at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Made for Each Other at Rotten Tomatoes
- Made for Each Other is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- Made for Each Other on Lux Radio Theater: February 19, 1940
