Martha Cheavens

George Stevens framed this entire film using flashbacks, an old phonograph playing the songs from various stages in the lives of two people who fall in love and are nearly torn apart by tragedy. The screenplay of Morrie Ryskind, based on a story by Martha Cheavens, is sentimental and heart-wrenching. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne make it all seem real and director Stevens gives the film a romantic glow which makes this one of the most fondly remembered films of the 1940s.

The story opens as Julie (Dunne) is getting ready to leave Roger (Grant) because of the pain caused by a tragedy in their lives that he can’t even bring himself to talk about, so they can begin to heal as a couple. When she finds an old stack of records she begins to trace the various stages of their love through the memories recalled by each song. It is through the records that we see how it all began, and how it ended up here, in a wonderful framing device for the romantic and heart-breaking narrative.

Roger sees Julie through the window of the record store where she works, and though he doesn’t even own a phonograph player, he ends up buying a big package of songs just so he can spend time with her. He pretends he is going her way after work and it isn't long before she becomes “his funny little redhead.” There are some wonderful scenes such as Julie and Roger sitting in a cabana by the beach reading fortune cookies which gives the story a very romantic atmosphere.

When Roger, who is a reporter, has a chance to go to Tokyo for a few years, the two get married and have a truncated honeymoon on a train which results in them becoming prospective parents. An earthquake, an inheritance, a small town paper in the States, all combine to form a warm, sweet, and sadly moving story that lets the viewer in on how everything got so broken, leaving Julie standing at the phonograph, recalling their lives together before she leaves.

Whether their love and marriage can be saved is only resolved in the last few moments of this beautiful film. Edgar Buchanan as Apple Jack is absolutely wonderful as he lends both support and humor to this true screen classic. Beulah Bondi is also memorable as the kind Miss Oliver, going out of her way to create a family for two people who love each other. A warm and sentimental film every classic film fan will cherish.… (more)