In this crass comedy from his youth, Niven plays an illusionist named Tony or Arturo, the 2nd being, as you have already guessed, his stage name, and this Tony begins taking death defying leaps; his wife is the pretty Anita (--performed by the spicy and cute Loretta Young--). She divorces him once she realizes their views of life don't match very much—she wants to settle, he wants to travel, etc., you know this marriages between a British magician and his assistant coming from an American Episcopalian background. Anita's granddaddy is an American Bishop of the Hollywoodian sort common to most of the righteous movie priests of the Latin rites, either Anglican or Catholic—dignified, wise, calm, unobtrusive and reliable—why, you know those American Bishops. Anita picks a 2nd husband, a youngster fat, ugly and dolt (--and strong as a bull--); she soon realizes that life with this fatty is even worse. She of course refuses to give herself to him; her Tony was slick and a bit funny, her present husband is clumsy, boring and uninspiring. This refused husband is shown, furious, dejected, seeking his pajamas in his voyage bag, a sad scene, fortunately short. Arturo regrets loosing Anita; he wants this babe back.
ETERNALLY YOURS is execrably written, and not a very good movie; it wishes to be a comical romance. The characters' deeds say nothing about them, don't express them at all.
Loretta Young is 'Anita', Zasu Pitts does a supporting part (--again, strangely appealing--), the very nice Virginia Field plays 'Lola De Vere', Niven's assistant.
I guess I never knew anyone who was a Niven fan. His performances are average at best; his mischievous face and nervousness, as of a Rathbone on a severe diet, gave him a distinct profile, usable in comedy format—and not much else. Niven, ironic, dry, witty and essentially melancholy, was a bit of a stock character for British comedies, if you take my meaning. Niven, as you ought to know, was a bi-dimensional actor, very limited, a nice vaudeville type. His characters are cartoons, in a very narrow register; he made his lookalike Guinness seem a regular Welles by comparison. As often with Niven, his character has an essential sadness and gloom; he feigns cheating on his wife, which he doesn't, etc.. Otherwise, the characters are _undelineable. The script is rubbish, there's no story, the lines are dull; so, uninteresting, rudimentary characters in a non—existent script (there are a couple of presumably double _entendres like—'we always did it at the finish of every act --of every performance', says 'Anita' after she kisses 'Arturo').
ETERNALLY YOURS is execrably written, and not a very good movie; it wishes to be a comical romance. The characters' deeds say nothing about them, don't express them at all.
Loretta Young is 'Anita', Zasu Pitts does a supporting part (--again, strangely appealing--), the very nice Virginia Field plays 'Lola De Vere', Niven's assistant.
I guess I never knew anyone who was a Niven fan. His performances are average at best; his mischievous face and nervousness, as of a Rathbone on a severe diet, gave him a distinct profile, usable in comedy format—and not much else. Niven, ironic, dry, witty and essentially melancholy, was a bit of a stock character for British comedies, if you take my meaning. Niven, as you ought to know, was a bi-dimensional actor, very limited, a nice vaudeville type. His characters are cartoons, in a very narrow register; he made his lookalike Guinness seem a regular Welles by comparison. As often with Niven, his character has an essential sadness and gloom; he feigns cheating on his wife, which he doesn't, etc.. Otherwise, the characters are _undelineable. The script is rubbish, there's no story, the lines are dull; so, uninteresting, rudimentary characters in a non—existent script (there are a couple of presumably double _entendres like—'we always did it at the finish of every act --of every performance', says 'Anita' after she kisses 'Arturo').