Forever, Darling
So I'm in the gym this morning and what should come on Turner Movie Classics but a 1956 film starring Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball called, well,
Forever, Darling. Kind of cutesy, but an OK film. The plot was moving along, more or less, until James Mason turned up, playing a guardian angel trying to save Lucy's marriage.
Yes, you read that last part right. A
guardian angel. I really only got to see the first part of the film, but I was glad I had to check out at this point. I found myself theorizing that gooey pap like this is directly responsible for the increasingly violent films of the sixties like
The Wild Bunch and
Bonnie and Clyde. I wouldn't be surprised if seeing
Forever, Darling proved to be a pivotal event in
Sam Peckinpah's life; he probably came out of the theater foaming at the mouth and vowing to cram as much violence into films as he possibly could.
...But I digress. There were some good points to the movie; let's get back to it. The plot has to do with the fact that Desi, a chemist (!), has married Lucy, who comes from a wealthy family. This difference in their backgrounds naturally creates some strain, exacerbated by Lucy's best friend and cousin, who is a snob. She's played rather well by Natalie Schafer - yes, the very same who was to feature in
Gilligan's Island as Mrs. Thurston Howell. Also, Lucy and Desi's maid Amy is a starched-looking type who gets off some real zingers. I knew she looked familiar, but I had to go to IMDb to find out that she was played by Nancy Kulp, who was - aha! -
Jane Hathaway on the
Beverly Hillbillies! This movie was practically a sitcom in training.
Desi Arnaz (his character is named Lorenzo Vega in the film) is obsessed with creating a new insecticide, which leads to my favorite line: "This stuff'll make DDT look like talcum powder!" You'd only get that in a 1950's film. So, to recap, I'd definitely recommend the first thirty minutes or so of
Forever, Darling. Once James Mason shows up, however, you're on your own.
posted by Dr. Alice at #
