You Belong to Me (1941)

Disappointment for a huge fan!

Best movie of this year hands down!

Amateur movie with Big budget

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Helen Hunt (Barbara Stanwyck) rescues wealthy fellow skier Peter Kirk (Henry Fonda). She's a doctor and he picks her over the arrogant male house doctor. She is often dismissed as a doctor by sexist attitudes. Kirk is completely taken with her and they get married. With her work taking up most of her time, he grows jealous of her male patients and causes chaos at her practice.A jealous Henry Fonda is hilarious. These two stars have great chemistry. The story goes into problematic concepts which leaves me conflicted. I've never heard of any such issue although it might be one coming out of the depression. It's wrong-headed and detracts from the movie. It's also missing a third character for a true rom-com. Maybe one of her patients can be elevated. I still recommend this for the two stars but it is problematic.

...if you don't mind taking 84 minutes to tell one joke -- the husband in insanely and stupidly jealous. That's the plot. The whole plot. As the cop says when a crowd gathers, "Nothing to see here folks. Move along." I think both Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck are absolutely top-notch actors. But this film stinks. It's a total waste of 84 minutes. I kept thinking that with a cast like this, it has to get better. It didn't. It even starts out bad with the worse fake skiing I've ever seen in movie.Now I mentioned 84 minutes, but the film lasts 94 minutes. That last 10 minutes is okay, since all we really need is a happy ending. Right? You know what the most interesting part of the film was? Seeing character actor Edgar Buchanan in a subdued role. Ruth Donnelly, another great character actor, has a nice supporting role here, as well.I rarely give a rating as low as a "5", but here I considered going lower.

I usually avoid writing such comments as "Why does this movie have such a low IMDb rating?!" but I'm going to break my own rule this one time. Why does this movie have such a low IMDb rating?! You Belong to Me is of the funniest films I've ever seen, period. Giving me the type of gut busting, side splitting laughter I rarely get from even the funniest of comedies. I was in howls of consistent laughter for 90 minutes; unlike The Lady Eve which I feel looses steam in it's final third. I only watched You Belong to Me in order to become a Barbara Stanwyck-Henry Fonda completest and was expecting something mediocre based on all the negative IMDb reviews but I have to ask the question mankind has pondered since the beginning of time, "What is wrong with you people!? Do you even understand the basic essence of comedy?!!" OK, back to planet Earth. The movie plays out like a newspaper comedy; the setup of a husband neglecting his wife due to his obligations to his job except in this case the profession is a doctor and it's not the man, it's the woman. Peter Kirk (Fonda) acts like a spoiled child throughout the film who doesn't know any better yet he's always too lovable and innocent to ever come off as annoying. Likewise many of his shenanigans and dialogue are very Homer Simpsons like ("Patient dies while doctor ski-ies"). He goes to extreme lengths to have Helen Hunt (not the modern day actress but the character played by Stanywck) as his own with his increasingly humorous paranoia; and while considering Stanwyck's sexuality I can't blame the guy. The man really does look like he's in love with the woman which would come as no surprise as apparently Fonda would tell his later wife he was still in love with Stanwyck. Peter Kirk has no purpose or ambition and doesn't contribute a whole lot to society, unlike his polar opposite wife; the more mature of the two to say the least. Even with this comically absurd pairing I did at times feel somber for the couple.I don't always say this with every romantic pairing I see however after watching all three movies they did together I do believe Stanwyck and Fonda could have been a regular film pairing up with there with the likes of Astaire & Rogers, Powell & Loy and Tracey & Hepburn. The chemistry they share is some of the best I've seen in old Hollywood stars; a match made in heaven if I've ever seen one.

This is an oddity and truly shows its time and its era and not well. I am not surprised it is so rarely seen. Henry Fonda as the wimp of all time in a poorly contrived little vehicle to showcase Barbara I would think who plays a spunky bright young doctor and gets a lot of good lines. However, I gave it a 5 out of 10 for the supporting cast who are magnificent. Buchanan particularly as a crusty old gardener and also the guy who plays the butler is a hoot. I could have just watched the supporting players all night and Barbara of course. Normally I enjoy old Henry but here he shows more than his normal display of great Fonda teeth and is given the worst and most brainless lines. All these actors had to earn their stripes over the years in poorly scripted movies like these.