This movie is Jimmy Stewart's first leading male character role. Supposedly, Margaret Sullavan had helped in recruiting him for the movie. The movie deals with a couple whose relationship is tested by the career aspirations of each other. The movie deals with a subject that is ground breaking for its time. Married women were relegated to being housewives prior to World War II. Women had also gotten the right to vote in the previous decade. The relationship between the spouses after their marriage becomes strained as the husband aspires to be a reporter (and getting stationed overseas) while the wife aspires to be a stage star. Their baby's birth becomes an additional dilemma for the couple. Ray Milland also stars as a friend of the couple who also falls in love with Margaret Sullavan. As the couple drifts apart, they start to contemplate divorce. Jimmy's character develops a serious respiratory infection from being overseas and realizes that he doesn't want to be a burden to his wife. He encourages her to marry his friend and to break off with him in a move of self sacrifice. However, they both still are in love with each other and she stays with him after finding out about his condition. The two of them never forgot about their past experiences with each other and as one character in the movie had stated that they shared a special type of love with each other. The movie title is suitably named since it relates to delaying a relationship until a later time period. The couple's competing career aspirations resulted in a delaying of spending time to share love with each other. The movie spans the time period from 1927 to 1935 and opens and concludes at a hotel where the couple had spent time together. Jimmy mentions the Lindbergh transatlantic flight at the beginning of the movie. It is a coincidence that he would play Charles Lindbergh later in his movie career. There are also references to the turmoil developing in Europe and the Japanese invasion into Asia which forbodes World War II.
Review of Next Time We Love
