Somewhere I'll Find You

This is a 'you hadda be there' picture. In 1942 this would have been one to see: the re-teaming of Clark Gable and Lana Turner after their success in HONKY TONK and Gable's first picture to be released after the death of his wife Carole Lombard. It was also his last picture before enlisting, so all stateside moviegoers knew it would be their final Gable film for the duration of WWII. And since her elopement and subsequent divorce from Artie Shaw in 1940, Turner was an ongoing tabloid headline. I guess with so many surefire elements, MGM didn't think it had to make a good movie too.

This is a 'love' triangle between three journalists, unfolding just before and just after Pearl Harbor. But since Gable and Turner make up two of the three points, there's no doubt about who will wind up with the girl. Yet we must suffer many contrived scenes during which two parts of the triangle argue tediously about the absent third. Finally, war breaks out and all debts are paid during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines,

Beginning with an ill-judged opening comic scene, right through to the rousing, patriotic ending in the midst of the noise and muck of war, nothing in this picture makes sense, fits together or works satisfyingly. It lurches clumsily from comedy to romance to comedy to action picture, as if each sequence was meant for a separate film. SOMEWHERE I'LL FIND YOU gives lie to the idea that movies from the classic period always had coherent stories.

Gable is reassuringly gruff and virile but he does seem less energetic and committed to the part than usual, and a couple of his closeups suggest the studio was exploiting his grief over Lombard, assuming that's what audiences would see in his face. Turner is livelier and her scenes with Gable are beautifully shot but never erotic. As Gable's younger brother, Robert Sterling is good-looking and lends able support and it isn't his fault that he and Gable never seem related. That was more Gable's job and he botched it. As a fast-talking B-girl, Patricia Dane is self-conscious but she makes such an impression in her two scenes and is so well-dressed and photographed that you wonder why you haven't seen more of her. You also wonder who she may have been seeing in the Front Office to get such a break. Best buddies (and rumored lovers) Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn have small parts near the end, and a few Asian actors are given sympathetic bits in the last quarter. But this movie squanders nearly every opportunity it had.

This is a war/romance drama like too many others; but the star studded cast keeps your interest. Clark Gable and Robert Sterling are brothers and both are war correspondents that fall in love with the same girl; and what a girl(Lana Turner).Turner gets the brothers attention while evacuating children in Indochina during WWII. The love scenes between Gable and Turner sizzle and make you forget the flimsy story line. Patricia Dane is quite an eye full herself. Also in the cast are Van Johnson, Frank Faylen, Keye Luke and Reginald Owen. If you like this; check out HOMECOMING(1948), another Gable/Turner war drama with more substance.

Clark Gable was always an actor well worth watching, and great performances are a great many (his Rhett Butler being deservedly iconic). Lana Turner has also been capable of giving good performances. The story sounded interesting and comedy with a mix of drama has worked well before and since, if not without its dangers.

'Somewhere I'll Find You' is notable too for Gable's wife Carole Lombard having tragically and prematurely died in a plane crash three days into shooting, wanted to see how Gable would fare in a film that would have been rather painful for him to do (apparently he wanted the rather profound title changed, and it is very understandable why, actually would have done the same if in his position). 'Somewhere I'll Find You' is not great, neither is it awful, and doesn't see everybody at the top of their game. It is very watchable and above average if somewhat uneven.

The good things are many. It's a good looking film, particularly in the way it's shot, showing fluidity and professionalism instead of haste or sloppiness. It's scored in a way that suits the tone of the film well, and it's all efficiently directed by Wesley Ruggles who doesn't allow 'Somewhere I'll Find You' to be less than interesting. Really liked the charming and amusing first half, even if it was somewhat standard and occasionally contrived, which had a humorous rapport, well-timed gags and smart script-writing. Underneath all that too there is an emotional power.

Gable fared remarkably well in his performance here, there are parts where he is subdued and more than understandably, but he is mostly very moving in particularly the end. His charm and comic gifts weren't lost and that he carried on despite being grief-stricken is to be commended. Lana Turner is lively and at times sympathetic, with a touch of melodrama which fitted the tone of the second half well. Robert Sterling is great support and the three work very well together, even if Gable and Sterling are never quite believable as brothers. The supporting cast, that includes Reginald Owen, Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn, are solid.

On the other hand, those good things are mixed with some not so good things. Namely that the more dramatic second half creates a rather jarring tone change and it feels like a film of two different halves, like two films in one which gave 'Somewhere I'll Find You' a disjointed sense. The pacing isn't as efficient and while there are enough poignant moments there are heavy-handed ones too.

This is particularly apparent towards and at the end, which did come over as preachy in the writing. The ending is rather too convenient and tacked on. The film has moments where it is a little too underplayed and also where it's a touch melodramatic.

In conclusion, above average if uneven, not quite dynamite. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Films like "Somewhere I'll Find You" are great little time capsules. We tend to forget that America has a well-grounded isolationist past even though George Bush represented a return to the philosophy before 9/11. Anyways, this films' primary function was to rev up the home-front and sell war bonds and profile Gable and Turner. It does both well. It accurately forecasts a longer war and an eventual victory. The love story was humorous. The gamesmanship within the threesome tended to get a bit irritating until I realized that it was simply a plot device to keep things moving along as if the War wasn't a sufficient motivator. The more powerful love story was the unstated one between Gable and Carole Lombard. Her death a few days into the filming must have had an unimaginable affect on Gable. I could detect nothing in his performance that measured that. This was not necessarily a good film but there is a small pleasure to be had in viewing it and paying some distant homage to 1942 America.

The criticism from the earlier commentators seems fairly valid, but most of it seemed less serious after seeing the film. It does end up as a completely different movie from what it began as, but so what? And yes, there was a large element of wartime propaganda involved in it, but again, so what? Many, if not most films of the era were similarly propagandistic. The performances of Clark Gable, and Lana Turner may not have been their best, but the charm, the charisma, that something that made them stars was on display in spite of the failings of the material. The whole plot about Turner's character's character (or lack thereof) was reasonably well-done. Imagine what it would take to do such a plot nowadays. Probably at least four sex scenes. Overall, an OK film, no great loss if you miss it.