You Belong to Me

"You Belong to Me" is a 1941 comedy - I think - starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, with a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and directed by Wesley Ruggles. The story concerns a female doctor (Stanwyck) who impulsively marries a millionaire. His jealousy toward her male patients is obsessive and causes embarrassment and trouble immediately.

If anyone but top stars had been in this, it would have gotten a 4 from me. Boy, is it bad. Fonda and Stanwyck are such an attractive, delightful couple. They're wasted here in an absurd story. The Stanwyck character would have dumped this guy in 24 hours in real life.

The story does point up the change in our society's values. The Fonda character has money and is considered by himself and his wife completely useless. She has a successful practice - guess what happens to her resolve to keep that going in 1941. The philosophy stated in the film is that the only reason to exist in the world is to be useful. Well, Mother Teresa felt that way. Does Paris Hilton? Stanwyck and Fonda dream of living in a small apartment with a Murphy bed and no money rather than the enormous mansion they live in now. Right, Donald Trump and Bill Gates wish for that daily.

Someone on this board said in their subject matter "this hasn't worn well." It really hasn't. Part of it is the world's fault; the rest of it is the script's. Skip it.

Man this was a painful watch. This one was almost as irritating as the original Out-of-Towners.

I can't say it enough, Peter Fonda can't do comedy. He is just dreadful in this. His character is so irritating and nauseating I just can't believe they let this one in theaters. As great as Barbara Stanwyck is she can't save this irritating mess. Know way in the world would a sane female/wife stay married to an over-jealous wreck like this character. I know this is suppose to be a romantic comedy but this one isn't even close to being credible.

Skip this one and be grateful that you did.

After an accident on the slopes, wealthy playboy "Peter" (Henry Fonda) ends up in the care of physician "Helen" (Barbara Stanwyck) who basically tells him there is nothing wrong with him that a few hours in bed won't cure. Being a man of means, however, plenty of other doctors are hovering around him offering all kinds of treatment, but he's taken a bit of a shine to "Helen" so decides to stick with her. She just wants to get on with her patients, but he's no slouch when it comes to distracting her and so, yep - it's a whirlwind romance. She's ill-prepared for his stately home or it's fastidious butler (Melville Cooper), but she's far less prepared for her new husband's suspicions. She can barely look down a patient's throat without him suspecting she is up to something, and these problems only spiral as a friend they share in common accidentally makes matters worse. After one calamitous intervention, she loses her temper and demands that he find some sort of purpose, else their relationship will be doomed. Never having worked a day in his life, he hasn't really a clue so he decides to abscond from their home until he can present her with a shock. Well, a few actually - but will it save the day? This starts off quite strongly with both Stanwyck and Fonda working well together delivering a lively script and some borderline slapstick scenarios whilst the starchy Cooper remains stiff upper lipped amidst the chaos. It struggles into it's last quarter though as the pace drops off and the story rather runs out of steam. There never was an whole heap of jeopardy, no, but the banter between them was initially quite good fun and it entertained for a while showcasing both of their comedic skills and it's worth a gander for the first hour or so before sentiment bared it's teeth and it became just a little too twee. Still, it's a solid team effort that raises a smile.

I usually avoid writing such comments as "Why does this movie have such a low IMDB rating?!" but I'm going to break my own rule this one time. Why does this movie have such a low IMDB rating?! You Belong to Me is of the funniest films I've ever seen, period. Giving me the type of gut-busting, side-splitting laughter I rarely get from even the funniest of comedies. I was in howls of consistent laughter for 90 minutes; unlike The Lady Eve which I feel loses steam in its final third. I only watched You Belong to Me in order to become a Barbara Stanwyck-Henry Fonda completest and was expecting something mediocre based on all the negative IMDB reviews but I have to ask the question mankind has pondered since the beginning of time, "What is wrong with you people!? Do you even understand the basic essence of comedy?!!" Ok, back to planet Earth.

The movie plays out like a newspaper comedy; the setup of a husband neglecting his wife due to his obligations to his job except in this case the profession is a doctor and it's not the man, it's the woman. Peter Kirk (Fonda) acts like a spoiled child throughout the film who doesn't know any better yet he's always too loveable and innocent to ever come off as annoying. Likewise, many of his shenanigans and dialogue are very Homer Simpsons like ("Patient dies while doctor ski-ies"). He goes to extreme lengths to have Helen Hunt (not the modern day actress but the character played by Stanwyck) as his own with his increasingly humorous paranoia, and while considering Stanwyck's sexuality I can't blame the guy. The man really does look like he's in love with the woman which would come as no surprise as apparently, Fonda would tell his later wife he was still in love with Stanwyck. Peter Kirk has no purpose or ambition and doesn't contribute a whole lot to society, unlike his polar opposite wife; the more mature of the two to say the least. Even with this comically absurd pairing, I did at times feel somber for the couple.

I don't always say this with every romantic pairing I see however after watching all three movies they did together I do believe Stanwyck and Fonda could have been a regular film pairing up with there with the likes of Astaire & Rogers, Powell & Loy and Tracey & Hepburn. The chemistry they share is some of the best I've seen in old Hollywood stars; a match made in heaven if I've ever seen one.

Barbara Stanwyck is an ambitious physician and surgeon. Henry Fonda is rich but idle. He crashes at her feet on the ski slope then woos her shamelessly while laid up in the lodge. For no particular reason, she allows herself to be talked into marrying him. From there, they move into his mansion, where she tries to continue her medical practice and he sits at home worrying about her male patients.

Yes, it is a silly plot. And it's not dated material so much as it just seems to lack any motivation for the lead characters to behave the way they do: Henry Fonda's character is an unimpressive whiner and Stanwyck's character is dumb enough to fall for him? I guess if anyone could make it work, seems like it might be Stanwyck and Fonda...but I have to say that the darn thing just isn't believable.

The generally disappointing script does include some snappy dialog as well as some good bits for supporting players. Stuffy butler Melville Cooper lords it over Fonda's household and offers slyly bemused commentary on his employer's habits and the upheaval in the household. Edgar Buchanan is good fun as the crusty old gardener who offers down-to-earth pearls of wisdom.

Overall, the cast makes it almost worth watching, and the production certainly looks good. There are some closeup shots of both Stanwyck and Fonda that are quite beautiful.