So Goes My Love

"So Goes My Love" is a film that one wishes had been better than it is. It's a fictional biopic about Hiram S. Maxim who invented a machine gun, curling iron and other things. The film is based on a story by his son, Hiram Percy Maxim, who was himself a prolific inventor. Maxim's inventions get little attention in this film. Instead, it's more about his personal life, meeting his first wife, and their family. It's supposed to be a comedy, drama and biopic.

However humorless Hiram senior may have been, Hollywood surely could infuse enough energy and humor into his character to make the story more interesting. With Myrna Loy and Don Ameche in the leads, and a good idea for a plot, this film had potential. But, unfortunately, it turns out to be slow and just so-so for entertaining. I think the fault lies in a weak script, poor direction, and a lame acting job by Don Ameche.

Some pep shots of humor in the script would have put life into the screenplay. And, a pep pill for breakfast each day of shooting for Ameche might have brought his character to life. I understand that his Hiram Maxim is supposed to be a deadpan character. But that doesn't mean that he has to move about as though he were a robot with a recorder playing his lines. He underplays the part so much that it stretches the credibility of the audience to think that Loy's character could see anything in the man.

Ameche could act and could do comedy very well. He was absolutely hilarious at Tibor Czerny, a deadpan role opposite Claudette Colbert in "Midnight" of 1939. One can imagine Fred MacMurray in the part of Maxim. He was among the best – if not the number one leading man in deadpan comedy. And, he played a number of roles as a tinkerer.

The only thing that earns this film my six stars is Myrna Loy's Jane Budden Maxim. Her knowing glances, looks of polite shock and other expressions are priceless. These are the things that made her a perfect film companion in so many wonderful comedies with William Powell. The camera catches them here, but unfortunately, the rest of the film is quite flat. It's too bad some of Jane's energy and enthusiasm didn't wear off on Ameche's Hiram.

...in giving the 'Green Light' to this picture. As a mid-19th Century Family Comedy it succeeds in those respects. It Stars Don Ameche (Hiram Maxim) and Myrna Loy (Jane Budden), his 1st Wife, making a attractive and winning couple. The film is a polished piece, backed by a fine musical score by Hans J. Salter. Who showed he could do more then just provide background music for the Universal stable of Monsters.

Basically 'Maxim' is shown as a 'absent minded professor' who with the push from his Wife becomes a successful Inventor. Though what he invented is barely touched upon. Other then some minor domestic issues the film comes across as a discount LIFE WITH FATHER (1947). Pleasing to watch (one time) and that is about it.

The 'real' MAXIM was the inventor of many useful tools, his most noted one, the MAXIM MACHINE GUN. How did he come up with this? A friend suggested to make a real financial killing that he "...invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others throats with greater facility". In this he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams making a fortune, gaining a Knighthood and fulfilling his friends foresight as WWI would show.

A pity the movie did not cover the latter part of his life. The Machine Gun, Amusement Rides, a 2nd Wife and charges of Bigamy would have made a more fascinating film.

Ameche and Loy are playing roles not unlike more brilliant performances in more brilliant movies during the 1940's. That doesn't make So Goes My Love any less enjoyable despite the unnecessarily esoteric title. A more appropriate title would have been The Unconventional Hiram Maxim - a British-born inventor who lived in Brooklyn and, according to this movie, was fond of eschewing dignity. Loy is as successful here in engaging her co-star in remarkable chemistry and holding her own on the comic front (her smoking of a cigar is hilarious) as she was to be in her upcoming masterpieces Life with Father and Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House. Ameche, fresh off Heaven Can Wait - one of my personal all-time favorites - and having perfected the inventor biopic in his essay of Alexander Graham Bell, is ideally cast as Maxim and has excellent chemistry with Loy. Add in highly competent support by Bobby Driscoll as Loy and Rhys WIlliams as an equally eccentric portrait painter and you have a highly amusing if episodic 80 minutes of entertainment.

This subtle comedy, "So Goes My Love" from 1946 is based on a book by Hiram Percy Maxim, who is a character in the film, about his family.

Jane Budden (Myrna Loy) comes to the city from a farm life in order to find and marry a rich man. It doesn't quite work out that way. She marries her cousin's neighbor, Herman Maxim (Don Ameche), who is an inventor - of what, we don't know.

Jane is determined that Herman find success, and in fact, with her encouragement, he does. They also have a family.

That's really all there is to it, but the humor in the film is delightful from the cast, including Bobby Driscoll as Percy. Myrna Loy and Don Ameche both approach their roles seriously, which makes the humor even better.

This is a film Ameche made after his career with 20th Century Fox; Loy at the time was 41, an advanced age for a woman to play a leading lady who wasn't in a character role in those days.

Lovely film that will leave you with a smile on your face. Bobby Driscoll is a sad reminder that Hollywood can chew you up and spit you out. After all his success as a child actor, his body was found in an alley and he was buried as a homeless person. The real Hiram Percy Maxim fared better.

As a longtime classic film buff, it's great to come across a worthwhile film from Hollywood's golden age that I've never knew existed, yet alone have seen. Doubly nice to find that Don Ameche made a few films in the years immediately following his departure from Fox; I think there was no better light comedian in movies.

This one is an expensively mounted romantic comedy-family comedy, shown in a beautiful new print on TCM. Sets and cinematography are elaborate. It's very much in the idiom of "Life With Father" (Myrna Loy was NOT in that one, despite what another reviewer said here) and Lubitsch's "Heaven Can Wait". And almost as good. Ameche and Loy do a masterful job with their light comedy roles, so much so that I could almost ignore that they were too old for the parts they were playing. Loy easily manged to be sexy, charming and beautiful, despite the handicap of overly heavy make up used for the entire film (obviously to hide that she was probably around 40 at the time).