Son ange gardien

I haven't been a big fan of The Long, Long Trailer. It has some funny bits, but there's a lot of yelling at the end, it goes from funny to yelling, and that whole thing about her collecting big rocks! Forever Darling actually begins as a fairly witty and sharp film--it had been written for someone else--and Desi gets to play someone different. James Mason is a good sport--playing a guardian angel, doing a parody of himself (maybe in Botany Bay) in a parody of Mogambo film-within-the film. He's not really adept at situation comedy, although he did well in a few comedic films like Touch of Larceny. The film switches gears at the end, with a lot of slapstick yelling in a swamp. And the reason they took an old script was to quickly capitalize on the success of Trailer. Its failure ended their joint film career. But it's faster-paced than Trailer and it's a reasonable time-passer.

This is a perfect example of how two great stars can make a bad film as a result of a very bad script. I love Lucy and Desi like everybody else, but getting through this movie is sheer torture. The fact that this movie has less than 50 votes indicates I'm not alone on this.

Although "The Long, Long Trailer" is an average film, it seems like a classic next to this anemic followup by Lucy and Desi, their second feature film during the run of "I Love Lucy." Lucy has a guardian angel who only she can see and she claims he looks like James Mason, which seems reasonable as he is played by James Mason. Lucy and Desi try to make the most of it, but the magic of the TV show is missing, thanks to a lame script about insecticides. Mason looks bemused, probably wondering what the heck he's doing in this movie. The cast features Schafer ("Gilligan's Island") as a meddling cousin and Kulp ("Beverly Hillbillies") as an impertinent maid.

Lucy and Desi return in a film about what happens when the love starts to leave the marriage of their characters, Susan and Lorenzo. It's not a wacky comedy like The Long, Long Trailer or I Love Lucy, but it's more sweetly poignant and gently humorous. I especially like the scene where Susan and Lorenzo are at a movie and he falls asleep, and she screams and wakes him up right away! The startled, confused look on Desi's face is priceless! And for 60s TV buffs, Nancy Kulp (Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies) and Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island) are both in this film. Definitely worth renting.

"Forever, Darling" is a 1956 comedy-romance with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, It's also a nice story about how things change in the first years of marriage. And, how people can salvage the love they have to make it last a lifetime. Lucy is visited by her guardian angel who tells her that her marriage is on the skids. Unless she does something to save it, they will wind up following the paths of others whom the couple know who no longer have any romance. Lucy plays Susan Vega and Desi is Lorenzo "Larry" Vega who is a scientist-researcher. James Mason plays Susan's guardian angel.

Those who might expect some zany antics that Ball made her signature trade in her long-running TV sitcoms may be disappointed. The star kept that zaniness for her TV shows. Her films mostly have a nice blend of witty dialog, some crazy antics and other comedic situations; This film also has a dramatic element concerning marriages. Ball and Arnaz ended their marriage four years after this film. That' also when The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour on TV ended. The two had been together on that and the initial sitcom, I Love Lucy. Two years later, Lucy began her third TV series, The Lucy Show, which ran for seven seasons.

This won't have one rolling with laughter, but it will bring some chuckles. It's a nice comedy romance, in which we get to see Lucy mostly outside her trademark Lucy role. The zaniness takes over toward the very end. Susan decides to go with Larry on a field trip – a real field trip, camping out, to test a mosquito insecticide that he had been developing for five years.

Here are a couple samples of funny dialog. The first night out, Larry turns off the lantern in the tent. Susan, "This is some of the darkest dark I've ever seen. Larry, if you put the lantern on again, I think I'll sleep better." Larry, "Look, Susan, it's dark in our bedroom at home and you sleep all right there." Susan, "Well, there's a streetlight outside our bedroom at home. Boy, when it gets dark in a tent, it doesn't mess around."

In the morning they get into a raft on a lagoon. Susan has to row while Larry checks the water for mosquito larvae. Larry is impatient with Susan's rowing and she replies, "Us galley slaves don't row very well unless we're whipped." Later, after several mishaps, Larry begins chewing her out, in his native Cuban language. Susan, "If you're gonna bawl me out, bawl me out in English." He switches to English, and she says, "Never mind, go back to Spanish."