She lived at the edge of life - with out-stretched arms . . . too short to reach it! Romance - a baffling reality.
1939-10-07
N/A
95 min
Anita, engaged to solid Don Barnes, is swept off her feet by magician Arturo. Before you can say presto, she's his wife and stage assistant on a lengthy world tour. But Anita is annoyed by Arturo's constant flirtations, and his death-defying stunts give her nightmares. And forget her plan to retire to a farmhouse. Eventually, she has had enough and disappears.
David Niven and Loretta Young definitely had an on-screen chemistry between them, but it's not so obvious in this rather procedural comedy romance. He is "Tony", a famous and successful magician who easily captivates the heart of "Anita". Now she has already promised to marry the reliable "Burns" (an adequate Broderick Crawford) but is now determined to join her new beau on his grand tour. Now "Tony" - or the modestly monikered "Great Arturo" is not only a bit of a Lothario - which annoys her; but he is also putting life and limb on the line on stage - and that terrifies her. All that sustains her is his promise that one day, they will return to a quiet life in a rose-covered cottage. Might that ever happen or might she just decide that he will never change? It has something of a love-triangle nature to it, and the love is not just aimed at people ("Tony" is just as addicted to his performing as he is to anything else). The dialogue is a bit strained, that chemistry isn't really on display and after a while the film started to struggle under the weight of it's own limitations. It does, occasionally, pull off the gag - but even they are predictable and as we drift towards a conclusion that I didn't much care for at all. I sort of wondered what the whole point of this was? It is watchable for the stars, and the always reliable Sir C. Aubrey Smith and Zasu Pitts - but this is nobody's most memorable work, I'm afraid.
