{{Short description|1956 film by Alexander Hall}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Forever, Darling | image = ForeverDarling.JPG | caption = | director = [[Alexander Hall]] | producer = {{Plain list | * [[Desi Arnaz]] * [[Jerry Thorpe]] }} | writer = [[Helen Deutsch]] | starring = {{Plain list | * [[Lucille Ball]] * Desi Arnaz * [[James Mason]] * [[Louis Calhern]] * [[John Emery (actor)|John Emery]] * [[John Hoyt]] * [[Natalie Schafer]] }} | music = [[Bronislau Kaper]] | cinematography = [[Harold Lipstein]] | editing = {{Plain list | * [[Dann Cahn]] * [[Bud Molin]] }} | studio = {{Plain list | * [[Desilu Productions|Zanra Productions]] * [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] }} | distributor = [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loew's Incorporated]] | released = {{Film date|1956|02|9|}} | runtime = 96 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $951,000<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref> | gross = $2.29 million<ref name="Mannix"/> }} '''''Forever, Darling''''' is a 1956 American [[fantasy]] [[romantic comedy]] film directed by [[Alexander Hall]], written by [[Helen Deutsch]], and starring [[Lucille Ball]], [[Desi Arnaz]], and [[James Mason]].<ref name="Forever, Darling">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/159/forever-darling#credits|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905192336/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/159/Forever-Darling/#credits|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2011|title=Forever, Darling|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|publisher=[[Turner Broadcasting System]] ([[Time Warner]])|location=[[Atlanta]]|access-date=September 5, 2016}}</ref> In the film, Ball stars as a wife who tries to save her struggling marriage to a chemical engineer (Arnaz) with the help of her [[guardian angel]] (Mason). [[Louis Calhern]] and [[Natalie Schafer]] co-star in supporting roles.
Originally intended for [[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]], the script caught the interest of Ball and Arnaz, who were interested in making another film for MGM after the success of ''[[The Long, Long Trailer]]''. The film was produced during the hiatus of ''[[I Love Lucy]]''.
[[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] released the film on February 9, 1956. Unlike ''The Long, Long Trailer'', the film received mixed reviews and a lukewarm commercial response.<ref name="Forever, Darling"/>
==Plot== After five years of marriage, chemical engineer Lorenzo Xavier Vega ([[Desi Arnaz]]) tends to neglect his wife Susan ([[Lucille Ball]]) in favor of his work. When she wishes aloud that she had a more attentive spouse, her Guardian Angel – coincidentally the mirror image of her favorite movie star ([[James Mason]]) – appears.
The angel advises Susan to take a greater interest in Lorenzo's career, so she agrees to accompany him on a camping trip to test the revolutionary insecticide he's developed. However, Susan's dream of a second honeymoon turns into a nightmare when everything that could go wrong does. She becomes determined to save her marriage before it's too late.
==Cast== * [[Lucille Ball]] as Susan Vega * [[Desi Arnaz]] as Lorenzo Xavier Vega * [[James Mason]] as The Guardian Angel * [[Louis Calhern]] as Charles Y. Bewell * [[John Emery (actor)|John Emery]] as Dr. Edward R. Winter * [[John Hoyt]] as Bill Finlay * [[Natalie Schafer]] as Millie Opdyke * [[Mabel Albertson]] as Society Reporter * [[Ralph Dumke]] as Henry Opdyke * [[Nancy Kulp]] as Amy * [[Willis Bouchey]] as Oliver Clinton
[[Marilyn Maxwell]] also makes an uncredited appearance as herself in a fictional film she co-stars in with Mason.
==Production== The script initially titled ''Guardian Angel'' had been written by Deutsch in the 1940s as a vehicle for [[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]] and had been languishing at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] for several years. Later, [[Spencer Tracy]] and [[Katharine Hepburn]] were slated for the film, but it eventually fell through.<ref>''Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz'' by Coyne Steven Sanders and Tom Gilbert, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1993, pg. 102 ({{ISBN|0-688-11217-X}})</ref>
Following the success of their 1954 film ''[[The Long, Long Trailer]]'', Ball and Arnaz had signed a two-picture deal with MGM in an attempt to set up a film unit for [[Desilu Productions]]. MGM head [[Dore Schary]] suggested ''Guardian Angel'' to the couple as the first picture of the deal.<ref name="TCM">{{Cite web|date=April 20, 2006|title=Forever, Darling|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/159/forever-darling#articles-reviews?articleId=118530|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905192336/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/159/Forever-Darling/#articles-reviews?articleId=118530|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2011|access-date=December 3, 2020|website=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref> Ball believed the project would bring the couple closer together, and they agreed to do it.<ref>''Ball of Fire'' by Stefan Kanfer, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003, pg. 180 ({{ISBN|0-375-41315-4}})</ref> It was the first time Desilu was involved in feature film production. As with ''[[The Long, Long Trailer]]'', the lead characters are similar in personality to the Ricardos.
In March 1955, [[Cary Grant]] was the reported choice for the guardian angel; however, his demanded salary was too high, so the role went to Mason.<ref name="TCM" /><ref name="AFI">{{Cite web|title=FOREVER, DARLING (1956)|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/51833|access-date=December 3, 2020|website=[[American Film Institute|AFI]]}}</ref> Alexander Hall — who was Ball's boyfriend at the time she met Arnaz — was hired as the director. Arnaz felt the script was weak, and he brought in ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' writers [[Madelyn Pugh]] and [[Bob Carroll, Jr.]] to make uncredited changes; the duo's contribution was the [[slapstick]] camping sequence in the final third of the film.<ref>''Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz'', pg. 103</ref>
Filming started in mid-June 1955 while Ball and Arnaz were on hiatus from filming ''I Love Lucy''.<ref name="AFI" /> Although mostly filmed at [[Desilu Studios]] in [[Culver City, California]], some scenes were filmed on location in [[Yosemite National Park]]. Filming wrapped on July 12.<ref name="AFI" />
The title song, with lyrics by [[Sammy Cahn]] and music by [[Bronislau Kaper]], was recorded by both Arnaz and the [[Ames Brothers]], who performed it over the opening credits and ultimately had the bigger hit. The tune became an Arnaz family tradition, sung by Desi at special events, including his daughter [[Lucie Arnaz|Lucie]]'s marriage to actor [[Laurence Luckinbill]].<ref name="TCM" />
==Promotion and reception== Ball and Arnaz promoted the film via a cross-country train tour aboard a special car provided by the [[Santa Fe Railroad]], with stops in Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, and Ball's hometown of Jamestown, New York.<ref>''Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz'', pg. 119</ref> The film opened at the [[Loew's|Loew's State Theatre]], where the newlywed couple had performed their first [[vaudeville]] act in 1941.
The film has received mixed reviews. When it opened, [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described it as a "thin, overdrawn, weak caper," <ref>''Ball of Fire'' by Stefan Kanfer, pg. 180</ref> and ''Time Out London'' later called it a "fitfully amusing offering."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/66901/Forever_Darling.html |title=''Time Out London'' review |access-date=2007-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606231310/http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/66901/Forever_Darling.html |archive-date=2011-06-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most notably, programmers at [[Radio City Music Hall]], where ''Trailer'' had premiered, refused to let the film open there because they found it "sub-standard."
According to MGM records, the film earned $1,912,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $376,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss of $188,000.<ref name="Mannix"/> As a result of the disappointing results, MGM and the couple mutually agreed to cancel the deal, and Desilu did not produce another film until ''[[Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 film)|Yours, Mine, and Ours]]'' 11 years later.<ref>''Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz'', pp. 103–104</ref>
==See also== * ''[[Heaven Can Wait (1978 film)|Heaven Can Wait]]'', 1978 film where Mason plays a similar character * [[List of films about angels]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0049225}} * {{TCMDb title|159}} * {{AFI film|51833}}
{{Alexander Hall}}
[[Category:1956 films]] [[Category:1956 romantic comedy films]] [[Category:American fantasy comedy films]] [[Category:American romantic comedy films]] [[Category:American romantic fantasy films]] [[Category:Films about angels]] [[Category:Films adapted into comics]] [[Category:Films directed by Alexander Hall]] [[Category:Films scored by Bronisław Kaper]] [[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]] [[Category:1956 English-language films]] [[Category:1956 American films]] [[Category:English-language romantic comedy films]]