Customer Reviews

Made for Each Other [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Movie: ***1/2 DVD Quality: *** DVD Extras: N/A

"Made for Each Other" is a textbook example of how a skillful cast of pros can turn an ordinary, run-of-the-mill script into something special. The film's plot is a soap operatic pastiche of comedic and dramatic incidents revolving around the misfortunes of a young hardluck couple who have married after a brief meeting. Their fledging relationship is tested at every turn as they are beset by a long list of cliched domestic problems, including disapproving inlaws; financial worries; tragic illness and impending loss; etc, etc. In lesser hands the film might have turned out to be 93 minutes of bathetic nonsense, but co-stars Carole Lombard and James Stewart succeed in taking straw and spinning it into pure gold. Both actors approach their roles with a disarming integrity and heartfelt honesty that breathe life into the often hackneyed dialogue and situations; Lombard in particular manages to make her character luminescent from the inside out, even in those scenes in which she is dimly lit and appears devoid of makeup. Now THAT'S "star power"! The two leads are given able support by a wonderful cast of talented character actors giving their all (Charles Coburn, Lucile Watson, Harry Davenport, and Louise Beavers), but ultimately the picture rests on Stewart's and Lombard's more than capable shoulders.

At one point, the copyright on "Made for Each Other" lapsed and the film fell into the public domain. Television broadcasters and cheapie video companies aired or sold copies of varying quality, sometimes made from third or fourth generation prints that featured wretched contrast, inept splices, and muddy sound. Happily, the MGM DVD offers the cleanest, sharpest video and audio I have come across in years of searching. In the past, I have stopped watching various prints five to ten minutes into the film because of quality problems, but the MGM print - though not perfect - is relatively free of video or audio distortion, and is definitely the one I would recommend to you, especially if you're purchasing a copy to add to your home library.

This is a great example of the old time Hollywood soap opera. James Stewart and Carole Lombard are wonderful (as always) as the young couple dealing with the strange and cruel twists and turns of life. A two-hankie weepie. However, I strongly recommend that you do not purchase this dvd. The sound and picture quality are terrible. It is completely unwatchable and the hiss is so bad the dialogue is muffled. It's hard to understand how a company can find tranfers as bad as these - the vhs copies are much superior. Trust me, this may seem like a bargain but it is not. 4 stars for the movie 0 for the dvd

Jimmy Stewart and Carole Lombard play a recently married couple that discovers family life isn't easy in this entertaining classic from 1939 (Hollywood's best year). Their love for each other is soon put to the test by Stewart's snobby Mom (played by Lucille Watson) who finds it hard to get along with Lombard. Also, Stewart's job is frustrating and stressful, and his grumpy, hard-of-hearing boss (played by Charles Coburn) doesn't make things easy for him. Soon Stewart and Lombard have mounting debts that can't be paid, and then tragedy strikes and they have only their love and faith to pull through the worst crisis of their lives. The plot may sound a little hokey, but thanks to great casting and wonderful performances from Lombard and Stewart, it actually works well. My main complaint with this dvd is the HORRIBLE sound quality. I had to turn the volume up nearly to max and I still couldn't hear what they said at times! This is a very enjoyable movie, but with such poor sound quality I can only give this dvd a four-star rating.

As happliy married newlyweds, Stewart and Lombard seem to have it all...each other, a promising career, and a beautiful baby -- that they work to figure out how to care for. Be sure to catch Stewart trying to bottle feed the baby!

Things turn tough when their child is struck with illness, and they come to the realization that life is hard after all.

This movie has romance, humor, idealism, and sadness -- things that make movies of the black and white era watchable and enjoyable.

I heartily recommend this movie...but watch out for the second scene with the little angel in sneakers.

Five stars for a great watchable movie -- even though some people think that it's got too much melodramatic sappiness in it. After all, I think that anyone can do with a dose of good, solid sappiness once in a while.

This is an early film is the careers of stars James Stewart and Carole Lombard. They star as a young impulsively-married couple who go through all the tribulation that entails. The performances are all top-rate and the cast includes Charles Coburn as Stewart's hearing-impaired boss and a cameo by Ward Bond as a reluctant pilot.

It is a light comedy-drama with a good script and great acting. My one complaint is that the last half-hour is mostly taken up with a soap-ish baby sickness scare that does little to expand the story, but gives Lombard an opportunity for an "Oscar clip" level crying scene and to look beatific praying to a statue of Jesus. This is in retrospect, however, as I was riveted to the screen throughout the ordeal.

All in all, a good (not excellent) film and a realistic portrayal of married life (sans housekeepers, of course) buoyed by terrific acting all around.

Watching an impossibly young James Stewart teamed with the screen's reigning screwball comedienne, the wondrous Carole Lombard, is treat enough in itself, but this 1939 dramedy directed by John Cromwell has them working overtime on a cliché-bound plot about young, struggling marrieds, John and Jane Mason, who face an unexpected crisis. Penned by Jo Swerling, the script throws in every movie-invented barrier to their happiness - John's dominating mother who lives with them, his unreasonably demanding boss, a series of impossible domestics, and a surprise pregnancy which eventually leads to a melodramatic turn that involves a plane flying through an unrelenting thunderstorm. The tear-jerking film bears a certain resemblance to Leo McCarey's 1941 "Penny Serenade" with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in style and pacing.

None of it should work, but somehow it does because Stewart is so callow and sincere, Lombard so earthy and knockout gorgeous, and their relationship quite convincing. Playing their standard character roles during this period, Charles Coburn plays John's hearing-impaired blowhard of a boss, Judge Doolittle, while Lucile Watson is her imperious self as the mother-in-law from hell criticizing Jane's every move. My favorite player is Louise Beavers, who briefly plays the one maid the Masons adore. The Masons' financial straits force her to leave but not before a lovely scene between her and Lombard in the park. The movie was produced by David O. Selznick, who was preoccupied with post-production work on "Gone With the Wind" but you can definitely see his influence in the film's technical polish. It's too bad the film has fallen into public domain as the print transfer to the 2004 DVD is woefully substandard. Regardless, the pairing of Stewart and Lombard is well worth seeing in any vehicle.

"Made for Each Other" is an effective and compelling melodrama that seamlessly blends the conflicting essences of drama and comedy into a genuine treat for the heart and mind. It stars resident scatterbrain, Carole Lombard and congenial James Stewart as Jane and John Mason, a couple on a whirlwind romance to nowhere. Disapproving in-laws intercede in the couple's idyllic domestic paradise and financial stresses brought on by a change at work eventually culminated in a devastating illness. Director John Cromwell spins a cinematic tapestry of lives that are the embodiment of those proverbial ups and downs we all encounter in life. Cromwell's sprite and accessible direction allows even the sensitive charm and poignancy of secondary characters like, John's boss, Joseph Doolittle (Charles Coburn) the chance to shine. Though the effervescent triumph of the human spirit is never far from Cromwell's vision for the film, it's ultimately that old fashioned sentiment that salvages the whole affair from becoming overly sweet.

MGM's DVD is impressive. The B&W picture exhibits a very nicely balanced gray scale with smooth, solid blacks and very clean whites. Age related artifacts are present throughout but do not distract. Some minor edge enhancement crops up and there is more than a hint of pixelization in infrequent spots but overall the picture will surely not disappoint. The audio is mono but more than adequate for a film of this vintage. There are no extras.

What starts out as another typical Carole Lombard comedy turns deadly serious halfway through. Lombard and attorney Jimmy Stewart just get married, and before they can even leave on their honeymoon, troubles begin: he gets called back by his crotchety boss (Charles Coburn) to try a case. Later at a disastrous (though still humorous in spots) dinner party thrown by the couple to entertain Coburn and his family, the boss announces that his son-in-law is to become a partner in the firm, something Stewart was pining for. It's no more joking around after that: things really get tough for Stewart and Lombard until one New Years Eve their baby becomes very ill, and Coburn turns decent and finds a way to get medicine they need to be flown to them through a snowstorm.

Lombard usually didn't get a chance to play serious roles such as she does here and she's excellent. Jimmy Stewart is also good as the shy and timid (until the end) lawyer, maybe too shy and timid to be totally believable, but still good. (I thought shy lawyers were as rare as blind racecar drivers.) The melodrama gets poured on pretty thick by the time the baby gets sick, but the excellent acting by Stewart and Lombard - and some of the other minor characters, especially Lucile Watson as Lombard's mother - make up for that easily.

My wife and I expected SOME comedy - after all, Carol Lombard and Jimmie Stewart have BOTH done excellent work in that field, and the reviews we'd seen CALLED it a "comedy-drama". But alas, the only funny part of this movie was unintentional humor, particularly the "dramatic" sequence at the end, with a biplane pilot flying precious "serum" (on New Year's Eve, apparently) over the Rockies in a blinding blizzard (some wing spars on that plane!) and eventually bailing out somewhere over the Susquehannah (some fuel tanks that biplane had!) while newspaper headlines track his progress - all in one night? As a (former USAF) pilot, I laughed myself out of my seat throughout THIS sequence - it is totally ludicrous.

This "weepie", made in 1939, is infinitely dated. It looks much like a prototype for "It's A Wonderful Life", and maybe film buffs can check it out bearing *that* in mind, but if you are expecting ANY sort of humor, forget it. Stewart lurches from one setback to another, while his wife stays home with the baby and the mother-in-law (and the maid - don't forget the maid....). Trying to think of a single "funny" scene, I suppose the two seconds Stewart spends poking a bottle at the baby could bring a smile, but the scene where he comes home completely drunk is like watching a train wreck.

As another reviewer wrote, the DVD transfer is awful. The sound seems to come from the bottom of a 55-gallon drum stuffed with cotton - turning the volume up only gets you an earful of hiss and crackle. And extras....well, what do you expect at this price? The "art work" is a single lobby card (and that's shown so small that I can't imagine why it was even included), and "biographies" is a single page for Stewart, nothing for Lombard or anyone else.

The film this reminded me of most was "Cavalcade", but without the high spots. Even if you like "weepies" like "Penny Serenade", there is precious little in this archaic creaker to interest you. I highly recommed passing. Or better yet - go for "It Happened One Night".

This touching film following the trials and tribulations of a newly married couple moves from humor to drama with ease thanks to fine performances from Jimmy Stewart and Carole Lombard, a good screenplay from Jo Swerling, and deft direction from John Cromwell.

Jimmy Stewart is young attorney John Mason, returning from a recent trip a married man after a whirlwind romance with Jane. He can't wait to put his wife's picture on his desk and the two can barely contain their bliss. Carole Lombard glows in her role as Jane, capturing that feeling of newfound love in her performance. Charles Coburn is the head of the law firm James works for and whose daughter he was expected to marry. This causes regret on the part of his mother, portrayed by Lucille Watson. Forced to live with the struggling young couple, her loneliness and frustration vents itself in unfair criticism of Jane.

Jane's mother-in-law is not the only thing weighing the young couple down, however. Their planned honeymoon aboard the Normandy sails into the sunset when the ship leaves without them after he is called back to work at the worst possible moment. Soon John is passed over for junior partner and forced to accept a cut in pay, resulting in more financial difficulties which for the couple, who now have a baby on the way.

Cromwell lets this play out naturally, with humor and tenderness, making for a realistic and sentimental slice of life. It is the small moments such as a wedding ring discussion and cut in pay which give the film a poignancy anyone who was once young and married can relate to. When their baby becomes ill, a desperate flight through snowy skies to get medicine offers drama which might seem contrived it were not done so well. If fact, this was an actual event in the life of producer David O. Selznick, whose brother had been saved in the same manner.

A sweet and rewarding ending proves all the viewer has hoped for in this terrific film full of warmth and sentiment. The prints of this film used for the Anchor Bay and MGM releases are excellent, but this one is okay to watch if you just want to see this great film and save a few dollars. Those who enjoy a sentimental tear-jerker once in a while will find a new favorite in this one.