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6.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. For Love of You remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a soft spot for 1930s British musicals that move at the speed of a polite afternoon tea, you might get a kick out of this. If you need a plot that makes sense or characters that behave like real human beings, skip it. You will probably hate this if you get annoyed by songs that interrupt the story every ten minutes just because someone felt like humming.
Honestly, watching For Love of You feels like stumbling into a party where you don't know anyone, but the music is decent enough to keep you standing near the punch bowl. It’s the second of the Jack and Jim musicals, and it carries that strange energy where everyone is just happy to be on screen.
I kept thinking about how this compares to something like The Magic Flame. It lacks that same strange, heavy atmosphere, opting instead for a breezy, almost forgettable lightness. Sometimes you can see the actors waiting for their cues, like they are standing on a giant 'X' painted on the floor.
Arthur Riscoe has this way of looking at the camera that makes me think he knows we are all wasting our time. It’s kind of charming, in a weird way. There's a scene involving a fountain that goes on for way too long. The silence in the room actually started to feel heavy, not because of the drama, but because nothing was happening.
It’s not as manic as Love Krazy, thank goodness. It's just... there. If you watch it, do it with a cup of coffee and don't try to track the logic of the romance. It isn't worth the headache. The songs are fine. The outfits are perfectly period-appropriate. It’s a movie that exists, and that’s about all I can say for it. ☕
