ETERNALLY YOURS (1939) Loretta Young, David Niven & Hugh Herbert | Comedy, Drama, Romance | B&W

Eternally Yours (aka Whose Wife) is a 1939 American comedy drama film produced and directed by Tay Garnett with Walter Wanger as executive producer, from a screenplay by C. Graham Baker and Gene Towne. The film stars Loretta Young and David Niven, and also features a strong supporting cast including Broderick Crawford, Billie Burke, Eve Arden, ZaSu Pitts, and C. Aubrey Smith. Composer Werner Janssen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music.

SYNOPSIS
Anita Halstead, swept off her feet by magician Arturo, finds the results less than magical.

One night, Tony becomes drunk in the company of a woman reporter and boasts he will jump out of an aircraft at 15,000 feet (4,600 m) with his hands handcuffed behind his back. When she prints his claim, he first tries to get out of it with a fake cast on his arm, but when he sees the thousands of fans, he goes through with it, freeing himself in mid-air and parachuting safely to the ground. He promises Anita that he will not attempt the dangerous stunt again, but soon breaks his word and performs it repeatedly all over the world.

Anita becomes weary of the constant travel and longs to settle down and start a family. Secretly, she sells her jewelry and has a house built in the Connecticut countryside. When it is completed, she shows Tony a picture of it, but his uninterested reaction stops her from telling him it is theirs. When he signs up for a two-year, round-the-world tour rather than take the vacation he had promised, she finally gives up. She leaves him and gets a divorce in Reno. Anita's grandfather, Bishop Peabody (C. Aubrey Smith), breaks the news to the distraught Tony.

On a sea cruise with her Aunt Abby (Billie Burke), Anita is surprised to run into her old fiancé Don. She gets the ship's captain to marry them. However, she spends their honeymoon night with her grandfather. The next night, Don insists on introducing her to his boss, Harley Bingham (Raymond Walburn), at a nightclub. The entertainment is none other than the Great Arturo, with his old assistant, Lola De Vere (Virginia Field). He soon persuades Bingham to let him perform at Bingham's company retreat at a resort, much to Anita's discomfort.

Mrs. Bingham (ZaSu Pitts) has a dilemma, though. They have not booked enough rooms to provide separate bedrooms for the unmarried Tony and Lola. Tony suggests he and Don share one room, while Anita and Lola take the other. During his stay, Tony tries unsuccessfully to persuade Anita to take him back. Meanwhile, the hapless Don becomes sick, and the doctor prescribes no physical activity of any sort for a month.

Bishop Peabody is told by his lawyer that Anita's divorce is not legal. Later, he informs his granddaughter that Tony will be doing his parachute stunt that day. She attends. Tony tells his valet and friend Benton (Hugh Herbert) that he hid a lockpick in the wrong airplane, but goes ahead with the trick anyway. He frees himself dangerously close to the ground. After he is pulled unconscious out of the water, Anita rushes to his side. When he regains consciousness, they are reconciled. In the final scene, they enter their Connecticut home.

CAST & CREW
Loretta Young as Anita Halstead
David Niven as Tony, "The Great Arturo"
Hugh Herbert as Benton
Billie Burke as Aunt Abby
C. Aubrey Smith as Gramps, aka Bishop Peabody
Raymond Walburn as Mr. Harley Bingham
ZaSu Pitts as Mrs. Cary Bingham
Broderick Crawford as Don Burns
Virginia Field as Lola De Vere
Eve Arden as Gloria, a friend of Anita's
Ralph Graves as Mr. Morrisey
Lionel Pape as Mr. Howard
Fred Keating as Master of Ceremonies
Mary Field as Peabody's Housekeeper

Directed by Tay Garnett , Charles Kerr (assistant)
Written by C. Graham Baker, Gene Towne
Produced by Tay Garnett
Cinematography Merritt B. Gerstad
Music by Werner Janssen Production
company Walter Wanger Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release date October 7, 1939 (United States)
Running time 95 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $790,878[1]
Box office $683,131[1]