MovieChat Forums > Penny Serenade (1941) Discussion > Their marriage was cheated out of a real...

Their marriage was cheated out of a real chance.

posted 16 years ago by LaGypsyEyes
3 replies | jump to latest

I thought it was a beautiful story, however, the ending did not suit me well.

Just as they were realizing what a marriage was truly about -- working through the bad as well as being there for the good, they were cheated! They got an easy way out - they got another baby! That did not seem very fair to me. So their marriage could only work as long as there was a baby?

I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Cary Grant's character to come to a deeper realization that he should've stuck it out with his wife instead of abandoning her when a tragedy struck. I was waiting for him to beg for her forgiveness and then promise her that their marriage would have a fighting chance because he would make it work. I was waiting for him to say that he would rebuild what they used to have, and make their marriage stronger than it was before.

I was terribly disappointed that they got the easy way out of it all. They got another baby which in truth just served as a huge band-aid for their boo boo of a marriage.

The movie was incredibly beautiful with great actors, but it didn't give me any closure. Instead it made me wonder, if that little boy with the blue eyes, curly hair and dimples died of a sudden illness as well, would he go back to punishing his wife by withdrawing from her again?

His character didn't grow, where as her's did. Thats just a shame.

[–] joes119 16 years ago

Well, yes. Their marriage could only work if there was a baby. That is what the film said. In 1941 that's the way it was for lots of brides and grooms. And, probably, it's still true.

What's more tragic than a woman who wants children but can't conceive? Is there failure more profound than the inability of a husband to support his family?

Without that baby she's just an unemployed record store clerk and he's an unemployed failure with no reason to even roll out of bed in the morning.

With the baby the spendthrift wastrel becomes the handyman husband building playpens on the roof. With a baby she gets to fulfill her nurturing nature. Each are dependent on the other and each enables the other.

[–] FilmNutgm 16 years ago

I agree with the original poster. Plus, I found it particularly irksome that it seemed as though the writers wanted the audience to believe that everything would work out simply because they had another child--and, hey, bonus--it's a boy like the one the husband originally wanted! There's so much wrong with that message.

Couldn't the movie at least have shown them taking time to deal with their grief and their problems before another baby was miraculously dropped in their laps?

Couldn't the movie really have been brave and had the couple realize that it wasn't a baby's job to give your lives meaning and/or solve your marital woes?

The acting was so good-- I just wish the last five minutes were as good as the majority of the script.

[–] samso999 16 years ago

Just watched it (again!) on TCM, and I really think the conversation on the stairs in the last few minutes was the beginning of their new understanding. He already apologized, but she was still leaving him. It would have been better if she had changed her mind about leaving BEFORE the phone rang, but there was just so much in this film that I really loved, I'll let them get away with that bit.