Customer Reviews

My Love for Yours

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

 

 

I ordered this DVD from one of the Amazon Marketplace sellers -- it had two movies on the same disk ("Double Feature"), from Dollar Entertainment in a keep case: The Amazing Adventure (1936, British, originally titled The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss, 63 min., Maltin's Movie Guide shows 70 min., IMDb shows 80 min. UK and USA: 61 min.), with Cary Grant - filmed in England, and My Love For Yours (1939) (USA - video title), a.k.a. Honeymoon in Bali, Are Husbands Necessary? (USA) (working title) Husbands or Lovers (UK) 95 minutes, with Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, Allan Jones (what a set of tonsils on that man), Akim Tamiroff, among other really good actors, and the really sweet Caroline Lee. It was extremely well written and timely even by today's standards. (SPOILER: "I'm not a feminist...," says the main character, who owns her own large department store). There are reviews for this movie under it's own title -- a good family movie in general except for a scene where Fred MacMurray pushes Madeleine Carroll down--might bother younger viewers. My Love for Yours was a pristine print, I must say. The Amazing Adventure was a good movie that I had also not seen before, but apparently the master was in really poor condition in that it had streaks and glitches, breaks in the film (sentences not finished) but clear images and still enjoyable. I recommend both movies.

All Editorial Review Product Descriptions for RCE's red box discs are a c&p text that includes their "100 greatest classic films of all time" blurb. These mostly obscure works are hardly as advertised. Also, picture and sound quality depend on condition of unrestored source material. Good to fair is about average.


MY LOVE FOR YOURS is a public domainer that was theatrically titled, "Honeymoon in Bali." The picture's original "Are Husbands Necessary?" name was jettisoned when leading lady Madeleine Carroll landed in divorce court.

"Bali" is the sort of escapist light comedy that was most common during the Great Depression's earlier years. (F. Scott Fitzgerald is rumored to have contributed to the script.) It's the story of Gail Allen, an upscale career gal whose vow to never marry is sorely tried when Bill Burnett (MacMurray), a visitor to Manhattan from Bali, meets and falls in love with her.

When Bill's marriage proposal is rejected by Gail, he returns home. She soon regrets her hasty rejection and follows him halfway around the globe. Gail discovers to her dismay that Noel Van Ness (Massen), who'd been unsuccessfully pursuing Bill for some time, has finally gotten his wedding commitment, so she regretfully departs for New York, her 5th Avenue job and would-be fiancé Eric Sinclair (Jones). As a rebounding Bill had done in Bali, Gail now does in New York. She agrees to marry Eric. Clearly, as the film's title suggests, this isn't where our story ends.


Besides a solid main cast, this one has an interesting company of uncredited players:

JANET WALDO (fortune girl's companion) was the cartoon voice of TV's Judy Jetson

EDWARD VAN SLOAN (Balian priest) was Van Helsing on Broadway and in UNIVERSAL's gothic classic DRACULA (1931)

RENIE RIANO (head saleswoman) is Jimmy Lydon's nixed blind date in THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE (1948)

MONTE WOOLEY (Parker, Smitty's publisher) is best remembered as THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (1942)

LUANA WALTERS (girl having her fortune told) was the shapely co-star in dozens of 'B' westerns who also appeared in THE CORPSE VANISHES (1942) opposite Bela Lugosi

CHARLES LANE (Morrissey's photographer) had a 75 year career that included a minor role in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), supporting parts in numerous TV series and narrating the animated short THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (2006) one year before his death at age 102


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.6) Honeymoon in Bali (1939) - Fred MacMurray/Madeleine Carroll/Allan Jones/Akim Tamiroff/Helen Broderick/Osa Massen

This very warm and charming film is very special but not well known. Madeleine Carroll gives one of her best performances opposite Fred MacMurray, who also shines in this quietly affecting comedy-drama. A good screenplay from Virgina Van Upp based on stories by Grace Sartwell Mason and Katharine Brust, and some nice photography from Ted Tetzlaff, make this film very satisfying.

Edward H. Griffith directed this film which is surprisingly good, sneaking up on the viewer until you are fully engrossed in a story which has a very real and mature feel to it. Edith Head dressed the elegant Madeleine Carroll, and she was never lovelier than in "Honeymoon in Bali," also known as "My Love For Yours."

Gail Allen (Madeleine Carroll) runs Morrissey's, an upscale department store. She has success and money and thinks she is happy with her life. Helen Broderick is her friend, Lorna Smith, a slightly older woman who writes novels of romance in far away places. Allan Jones is the Met star who is her friend and escort. When Gail gets an astrological reading talking about marriage to a tall man with a cut on his arm, that includes a child, she laughs it off. But when she happens upon Bill Barnett (Fred MacMurray) in a boat store, and he lives in Bali and just happens to have a cut on his arm, she begins to wonder.

While this may sound like the premise for a screwball type comedy, it is rather a warm and charming film with both humor and tenderness. The humor stems from Gail's unwillingness to give up a successful career simply for love, especially with someone beneath her station, whose only positive is he knows how to enjoy life. Osa Massen is quite good as the pretty girl from Bali, Noel, who likes to enjoy life as well and wants to share the fun with "Willie," causing some wry and humorous complications.

Bill has in his charge a sweet little girl named Rosie (Carolyn Lee) who becomes attached to Gail, as does she to her. Gail takes Rosie on a boat trip to run from her feelings and finds a smiling and easygoing Bill waiting to meet them. Despite the wonderful time they have together, Gail keeps clinging to her life and success in the city rather than taking the plunge.

Eric (Allan Jones) is safe and devoted, and fits into her idea of marriage. It is Akim Tamiroff, however, as the wise old window washer, who makes her see that she is pushing away exactly the thing she needs in her life. But with Noel back in Bali with Bill, will it be too late?

This film is full of quiet but very real moments, some humorous and some tender. It has a warmth and sincerity which is quite pleasing. A nice atmosphere is created through the elements of rain and snow in the city and the sunshine of the tropics. It highlights the differences between what some consider success, and true happiness, and mirrors what Gail is torn between.

The entire cast is good in this little gem of a film many have not heard about. There is a light tone but a mature approach to everything that happens. The pace is easy but not slow, the story allowed to develop just as in real life. Classic film fans will surely appreciate this one. It is also a good family film, a scene where Gail shows little Rosie how to pray very sweet. There is some wry humor here and situations that will have you smiling a lot. All in all, this is a fine film and will be a real surprise if you haven't discovered it yet.

I didn't even know I was buying this movie. It was on a disk with The Amazing Adventure.

It is a great old movie. Very happy with it.

Madeleine Carroll plays a very rich business woman who meets Fred MacMurray.

LIke I say , very injoyable.