This touching film following the trials and tribulations of a newly married couple moves from humor to drama with ease thanks to fine performances from Jimmy Stewart and Carole Lombard, a good screenplay from Jo Swerling, and deft direction from John Cromwell.

Jimmy Stewart is young attorney John Mason, who returns from a recent trip a married man, after a whirlwind romance with Jane. He can’t wait to put his wife’s picture on his desk and the two can barely contain their bliss. Carole Lombard glows in her role as Jane, capturing that feeling of newfound love in her performance. Charles Coburn is the head of the law firm James works for and whose daughter he was expected to marry. This causes regret on the part of his mother, portrayed by Lucille Watson. Forced to live with the struggling young couple, her loneliness and frustration vents itself in unfair criticism of Jane.

Jane’s mother-in-law is not the only thing weighing the young couple down, however. Their planned honeymoon aboard the Normandy sails into the sunset when the ship leaves without them after he is called back to work at the worst possible moment. Soon John is passed over for junior partner and forced to accept a cut in pay, resulting in more financial difficulties for the couple, who now have a baby on the way.

Cromwell lets this play out naturally, with humor and tenderness, making for a realistic and sentimental slice of life, but avoiding the maudlin. It is the small moments such as a wedding ring discussion and cut in pay which give this film a poignancy anyone who was once young and married can relate to. When their baby becomes ill, what happens might seem contrived were it not handled so well by director Cromwell. If fact, this was not a contrivance at all, but an actual event in the life of producer David O. Selznick, mirroring something which happened to his brother.

A sweet and rewarding ending proves all the viewer has hoped for in this terrific film full of warmth and sentiment. Those who enjoy a sentimental tear-jerker once in a while will find a new favorite in this one. ( )