From Amazon.com
The hardworking Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball star in the urbane and witty
Forever Darling, a 1956 romantic comedy, made at the height of the couple's popularity as co-stars of
I Love Lucy, about the difficulty of forging marital harmony. Arnaz plays unpretentious, visionary chemist Lorenzo "Larry" Vega, whose passion for working on a powerful chemical insecticide for the benefit of humankind means little to his wife, Susan (Ball). A creature of high society, Susan is conflicted about her destiny. Should she be concerned with acquiring a bigger house and socializing with the right people, or should she follow Larry as he takes his insecticide on a two-year field study in tropical jungles? Attempting to guide her toward the right decision is a dapper, guardian angel, who happens to take the form of James Mason because Mason is Susan's fantasy man. The script by Helen Deutsch (
I'll Cry Tomorrow) indulges
I Love Lucy fans with plenty of slapstick set pieces plugged into an extended camping scene. But there's also some flashy banter--Arnaz is very convincing putting well-heeled snobs in their place--and a very clever sequence in which Susan imagines herself as the heroine in a movie she happens to be watching. (A movie starring, yes, James Mason.) There's a fun, special feature in which Arnaz and Ball take time out from production on their television show to plug
Forever Darling and reveal the secret of a truly happy marriage--and then get into a beef.
--Tom Keogh
Review
Originally conceived as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Forever Darling was re-tailored to fit the talents of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The results make one wonder why anyone bothered to re-tailor this particular piece of thin, bland material. While not a terrible film, Darling has very little to recommend it. Certainly, Ball and Arnaz are amiable company, and Darling does give Arnaz a little more chance to act than one is used to. But the material doesn't allow Ball many chances to use her unique comic spark, and accepting Arnaz as a brilliant chemist is a bit of a stretch. The situations are hackneyed, the dialogue is weak, the characterizations are too pat and the screenplay as a whole is unfocused and prone to wandering. A stronger director might have been able to force some life into this, but Alexander Hall's work is wan. There are some moments that work, such as the camping trip, but even this feels like something that would have been better served on the stars' TV show. The title song, quite popular, is pleasant. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
