The film is now in the public domain in the United States, and Disney owns the original film negative.[4]
Plot
Made for Each Other (1939)
John Mason is a milquetoast young attorney in New York City who works for Judge Doolittle. He has as a chance to become a partner at his law firm, especially if he marries Doolittle's daughter Eunice. However, John meets a woman named Jane during a business trip, and they fall in love and marry immediately. Eunice eventually marries Carter, another lawyer at the firm. John's impertinent mother is disappointed with his choice, and an important trial forces him to cancel the honeymoon. He wins the case, but by that time, Doolittle has chosen Carter as the new partner.
After they have a baby, Jane encourages John to demand a raise and a promotion, but with finances tightened by the Great Depression, Doolittle instead requires that all employees accept pay cuts. John becomes discouraged by his unpaid bills, and his mother, who lives with them in their small apartment, is destroying their marriage, causing a stream of housekeepers to quit. John's mother gives the baby a bad cold.
On New Year's Eve, the baby is rushed to the hospital with pneumonia. The baby will die within hours unless a serum is delivered by plane from Salt Lake City. Doolittle agrees to provide the $5,000 required to deliver the serum, but with a raging storm, the pilot refuses to fly. John pleads with the pilot by phone, and the pilot's friend takes the job. The small biplane encounters heavy snow and almost crashes in the mountains, and the engine catches fire over the Allegheny River, a short distance from New York. The pilot escapes by parachute, clutching the serum, but he is injured on landing and rendered unconscious. He then crawls to a nearby farmhouse, where the farmer phones the hospital, and the baby is saved. A few months later, John is named as a partner at the law firm and his son speaks his first words.
Cast
James Stewart and Carole Lombard in a publicity still
Made for Each Other is in the public domain in the United States.[10][11] Because of its public domain status, the film has been released in the home media market by numerous distributors.[12]Anchor Bay Entertainment issued a digitally mastered VHS edition in 1999.[13]MGM Home Entertainment released the film on DVD on October 19, 2004.[14] On November 13, 2018, Kino Lorber released Blu-ray and DVD editions sourced from a new 2K scan of the original film elements.[15]
Made for Each Other received favorable reviews from film critics at the time of its release.[17]Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times called the film "thoroughly delightful".[18] The film was also named one of the ten best films of 1939 by The New York Times.[17]
Variety praised the film as "an exquisitely played, deeply moving comedy-drama...A happy combination of young love, sharp clean-cut humor and tearjerker."[17]Time also offered a favorable review: "This mundane, domestic chronicle has more dramatic impact than all the hurricanes, sandstorms and earthquakes manufactured in Hollywood last season."[19]
Higgins, Steven (2006). Still Moving: The Film and Media Collections of the Museum of Modern Art. New York City, New York: Museum of Modern Art. ISBN978-0-870-70326-3.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
