Somewhere I'll Find You

Clark Gable was always an actor well worth watching, and great performances are a great many (his Rhett Butler being deservedly iconic). Lana Turner has also been capable of giving good performances. The story sounded interesting and comedy with a mix of drama has worked well before and since, if not without its dangers.

'Somewhere I'll Find You' is notable too for Gable's wife Carole Lombard having tragically and prematurely died in a plane crash three days into shooting, wanted to see how Gable would fare in a film that would have been rather painful for him to do (apparently he wanted the rather profound title changed, and it is very understandable why, actually would have done the same if in his position). 'Somewhere I'll Find You' is not great, neither is it awful, and doesn't see everybody at the top of their game. It is very watchable and above average if somewhat uneven.

The good things are many. It's a good looking film, particularly in the way it's shot, showing fluidity and professionalism instead of haste or sloppiness. It's scored in a way that suits the tone of the film well, and it's all efficiently directed by Wesley Ruggles who doesn't allow 'Somewhere I'll Find You' to be less than interesting. Really liked the charming and amusing first half, even if it was somewhat standard and occasionally contrived, which had a humorous rapport, well-timed gags and smart script-writing. Underneath all that too there is an emotional power.

Gable fared remarkably well in his performance here, there are parts where he is subdued and more than understandably, but he is mostly very moving in particularly the end. His charm and comic gifts weren't lost and that he carried on despite being grief-stricken is to be commended. Lana Turner is lively and at times sympathetic, with a touch of melodrama which fitted the tone of the second half well. Robert Sterling is great support and the three work very well together, even if Gable and Sterling are never quite believable as brothers. The supporting cast, that includes Reginald Owen, Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn, are solid.

On the other hand, those good things are mixed with some not so good things. Namely that the more dramatic second half creates a rather jarring tone change and it feels like a film of two different halves, like two films in one which gave 'Somewhere I'll Find You' a disjointed sense. The pacing isn't as efficient and while there are enough poignant moments there are heavy-handed ones too.

This is particularly apparent towards and at the end, which did come over as preachy in the writing. The ending is rather too convenient and tacked on. The film has moments where it is a little too underplayed and also where it's a touch melodramatic.

In conclusion, above average if uneven, not quite dynamite. 6/10 Bethany Cox

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. :-)

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.

"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.

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.