John Mason (James Stewart) is a hard-working lawyer who works for Judge Joseph M. Doolittle (Charles Coburn), a prickly veteran of the legal industry who makes sure to put all his employees to work, and rarely, if ever, rewards them with anything other than the bare minimum. He has high expectations for John, who he hopes will marry his daughter (Ruth Weston), and become a part of the family, since he is a promising young lawyer who has bright prospects for the future. To everyone’s surprise, the events don’t transpire quite like this, since John announces one morning that he has married Jane (Carole Lombard), a young, working-class woman who he had only met the day before, which he claims was enough time for both of them to realize how much they actually enjoyed each other’s company, and rapidly got the nuptials out of the way. John and Jane are happy, but only for a few moments, since reality begins to kick in. As a result of not marrying his daughter, the judge decides to reject John’s potential promotion to junior partner, bestowing it instead on Carter (Donald Briggs), who did end up marrying the young woman. They also have to deal with the scorn of John’s judgmental mother (Lucile Watson), who makes her dissatisfaction with his choice of wife abundantly clear. They also soon discover that there is going to be another entry into their family, when Jane falls pregnant, and gives John a son, which he is both excited about, and thoroughly overwhelmed, not realising how fast life was catching up to him – but this is only the start of what is certainly going to be an abundance of experiences that the couple will have to face, proving the value of sticking together, until death do they part.

Based on the premise, you’d imagine Made for Each Other was yet another charming romantic comedy with two wonderful leads and a story that drew on their inherent talents while conveying a particular message. You’d only be half-correct, since this film is far more complex than this summary could ever come close to encapsulating. John Cromwell (working from a script by Jo Swerling, who in turn was adapting a story conceived and written by Rose Franken) directs a fascinating character study that is equal-parts endearing romance, exuberant comedy and heart-wrenching melodrama, all thrown together to form this incredibly poignant look into a marriage that contains moments of both joyfulness and tragedy. This film shows the value of optimism, as well as persevering through the tough times, since there is always the likely possibility that life on the other side will be very different, with silver linings abounding for anyone who is patient enough to fight through the storm and press on for another day. Cromwell’s work here is absolutely impeccable, and in bringing together a fascinating cast of actors, and telling a story that is both indicative of this time in America’s history, as well as one that still resonates today, Made for Each Other grows into such a stunningly beautiful, intricate portrait of humanity that is as profoundly moving as it is wholeheartedly entertaining. This is what a film should be – charming without lacking meaning, complex without needing to be overly serious or convoluted, and compelling to the point where any attempt to divert our attention from the screen seems an affront to the very nature of the film as a whole.

You can rarely go wrong in a film that features either James Stewart or Carole Lombard in the central roles. Mercifully for us, Made for Each Other contains both of them, and while neither are doing canonically their best work, this film still features some of their most interesting performances, at least in terms of how they play into their personas at the time, while still stretching their talents to the point where they showcased a wider set of talents that far exceed the image associated with actors of their calibre. They’re playing complex roles – neither Johnny nor Jane are particularly free of flaws, and have their own problems when it comes to solving the various challenges they encounter in their daily lives. Instead of creating situations where these shortcomings threaten to destroy the marriage, they’re used in a way where they strengthen their relationship, showing the value of depending on another person to help guide you through the difficult times, and in turn someone to celebrate the triumphs we find when all these obstacles have been cleared. Stewart and Lombard are exceptional, and lend their distinctive charms to a film that wouldn’t have been the same had we not frequently been sold on their merits as actors, and their fully committed drive to understand who these characters are, and how they function in the world surrounding them. They’re helped along greatly by the supporting cast, with the likes of Lucille Watson and Charles Coburn (two very reliable character actors) adding to the nuanced mosaic of lives that serve as the foundation of this film, and give it the depth that it needs to be an honest, reliable portrait of real life.

The empathy that pulsates throughout Made for Each Other is incredible, and helps separate this film from many others at the time. Produced during the peak of the screwball comedy, and starring two actors who were not strangers to the format, this film couldn’t be more different in its approach to humour. Here, the comedy is of a more gentle sort, a more quiet and meditative attempt to extract levity from difficult situations, showing the small joys that populate our daily lives. There are a couple of entertaining segments that are more broadly comedic, but for the most part, everything in this film is incredibly bittersweet, and pulled together with a simplicity that doesn’t distract from the more sobering message at the film’s core. Ultimately, what makes Made for Each Other so beautiful is how it approaches the idea of the human condition – we are all born to endure various challenges, as well as finding moments of happiness alongside them, which may take some more introspection to realize. The idea of two wayward souls meeting one day and marrying the next is fertile ground for an exuberant, wildly funny comedy, but Cromwell and his cohorts instead use it as a foundation for a touching on some deeply complex themes through the guise of what appears to be a really simple romantic comedy. This gives it a sense of timelessness, because while there are some references to socio-cultural events of the period (such as the Great Depression), the general themes of isolation and familial strife are universal, and something many of us, even in the contemporary world, have faced at some point. The fact that, in the midst of all of this, the film still managed to be frequently funny and heartwarming, only adds to the overall experience of seeing this vivid portrayal of life presented to us on screen.

Made for Each Other is a simple film, but one with a lot of depth lurking beneath the surface. The best way to describe this film is probably to refer to it as a simultaneous celebration of life, and rumination on its many challenges. It’s a joyful film, but not one that takes its subject matter lightly in any way, shifting balance equally between the loving romance between the two leads, and the obstacles they face as both a married couple trying to make ends meet, and the parents to a child they weren’t expecting to enter their lives so soon. It’s a very real film, one that gradually unveils its nuances as it moves along, shifting the focus away from the more trivial, inconsequential aspects of the story, and instead venturing closer to the potent, hard-hitting commentary that is executed with such precision, we don’t even notice the change until we are right in the middle of it. As a whole, the film is very charming, and it never becomes too dark (after all, in spite of how it took some very bold leaps into serious subject matter, this was a film produced in 1939, when audiences were still not ready for overly challenging works that venture too far out of their comfort zone), but it does contribute massively to the rich understanding of the human condition that Hollywood was so intent on featuring in later years, being almost ahead of its time, at least in terms of how it addresses these issues with a calm and measured authenticity, rather than the melodramatic hysterics we’d come to expect. Beautifully poetic, and incredibly romantic even at its most heartbreaking, Made for Each Other is just incredible, and well worth watching for anyone who is interested in the quiet deconstruction of reality to the bare essentials.