Somewhere I'll Find You

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.

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.

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.

What a pleasant way to spend two hours when one can't sleep. I loved Lana Turner's face, a little baby fat and that water and soap look. Another thing I really liked was the dialog, even the jokes held up well, despite their 70 year span since having been written. I was surprised to come to this site and see how many of the comments were negative. I like to think myself intelligent, beyond the attraction of the quasi harlequin romance of the story, so I'm going to sum up my over exaggerated enjoyment of this film with the fact that I have yet to see either Honky Tonk or Homecoming. If I liked this one, I am sure I'll love the other two. :-)

"Somwhere I'll Find You," released in 1942, was produced amid some chaos. Lana Turner was fired after marrying Arte Shaw against Mayer's wishes, and Esther Williams was given the role. However, Turner got the role back. Filming was halted for five weeks due to Carole Lombard's death. And then Gable wanted the title changed, because he said he wouldn't walk back on the set with the film being called "Somewhere I'll Find You." Supposedly the film's name was changed to "Red Light," probably just to get him through the rest of it.

Since seeing "Cass Timberlane," I've been giving some thought to MGM taking the easy way out with their scripts at times. I think this film is another example. The story is quite ordinary - two brothers (and two pretty unlikely brothers, Clark Gable and Robert Sterling with nearly a 17-year difference in their ages) both interested in the same woman (Turner). All three are reporters; the film takes place right before Pearl Harbor.

This would have been a much more interesting film with more focus on the situation in Hanoi, where the Turner character goes missing, and the efforts of the reporters to get the truth printed so that the average U.S. citizen would be aware of what was really happening. This is touched on, and actually, one of the scenes in the editor's office is very funny. Instead, we have Gable going after Turner because he thinks she's a tramp and bad for his brother, who wants to marry her. You can see the ending coming a mile away.

Keenan Wynn and Van Johnson have small parts in the film. By the end of the war, Johnson would be a very popular leading man at MGM, and Wynn would see bigger roles.

The very end of "Somewhere I'll Find You" is the pure propaganda found in films made during this period. It was an important part of film-making, and it's always interesting to see the U.S. atmosphere in these years. The world was going to change mightily, and so was Hollywood, with its major stars going off to war.

Gable's return would be the most difficult - he was older than some of the other classic stars, a grieving widower, and he would forever be in the shadow of Rhett Butler. When Turner cuts a deck of cards in the film, she gets the King. And that's what we get here, just before he goes into the service.