Forever Yours: A 1936 Musical That Doesn't Quite Know When to Stop

Is it worth your time?

Honestly? Only if you have a serious thing for vintage opera or you're stuck on a rainy Sunday with nothing else to look at. If you want a tight, logical story, steer clear. You’ll probably hate the pacing if you prefer modern movies that actually get to the point. But if you like watching people make wildly bad decisions while singing their hearts out, you might find something here.

Beniamino Gigli is the main draw, obviously. He's an opera star, not an actor, and it shows in every frame. He spends a lot of time just standing there looking pleasant while waiting for his next cue to belt out a high note. It’s charming in a weird, stiff way.

The plot is a mess of coincidences that make you roll your eyes. The whole 'tricked into a romance' setup feels like something out of The Little Minister, but without the actual grit. It’s all very polite and terribly British, even when the characters are supposed to be deeply wounded.

Odd moments that stuck with me:

• There’s a scene near the middle where the music just keeps going. And going. I think the camera operator fell asleep, because it just lingers on the scenery for what feels like three hours.
• Joan Gardner looks like she’s trying to solve a complex math equation whenever she’s supposed to be looking 'longingly' at someone.
• The dialogue is so stiff you could use it to build a deck.

It’s not as punchy as The Wolf of Wall Street, obviously, but that’s an unfair comparison. It reminds me more of the stuffy, slow-burn energy in A Bill of Divorcement. Except with more singing. So much singing.

You can tell the director was trying to make something fancy, but the budget clearly wasn't having it. The sets look like they’re held together by sheer willpower and a bit of wood glue. There's a specific hallway scene where the background painting is so obviously a painting that I started giggling in the middle of a 'serious' emotional confrontation.

Is it a bad movie? Not really. It’s just... there. It exists. It’s a relic of a time when you could just throw a famous singer in a room and call it a day. 🎶

If you're looking for deep character studies, look elsewhere. This is just a slice of 1936 melodrama that forgot to bring the drama. Watch it for the music, ignore the rest.