SunnyHello Nice effects though.

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Jackson Booth-Millard There is no way I would have ever heard about this film without seeing it listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and I was definitely more interested when it was supplied by the BFI (British Film Institute), based on the novel by George du Maurier, grandfather of Daphne du Maurier, directed by Henry Hathaway (Niagara, True Grit). Basically young English boy Gogo (Dickie Moore) is growing up in Paris, and he is very friendly with neighbour girl Mimsey (Virginia Weidler). After the death of his mother, Gogo is taken to England by his uncle, who gives him the new name, based on his mother's maiden name, he becomes Peter Ibbetson. Now an adult Englishman, Peter Ibbetson (Gary Cooper) works as an architect in Yorkshire, his latest project is being hired by the Duke of Towers (John Halliday) to design and bring restoration to a building for him. Peter is introduced to Mary, Duchess of Towers (Ann Harding), he falls in love with her, and although she is already married, she develops feelings for him as well. The Duke discovers their love affair and demands they explain themselves, in doing this Peter realises that Mary is in fact Mimsey, his childhood sweetheart, and she realises he is Gogo. The Duke becomes jealous and pulls out a gun to shoot Peter, in the scuffle Peter gets the gun, and the kills the Duke in self-defence. Peter is unjustly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for this accidental killing, he despairs that he will never see Mary again, however they are reunited in their dreams. The years pass, but Peter and Mary remain youthful in their dreams, in the end Mary dies from old age, but she goes to her dream world one last time, there she is joined by Peter as they go to Heaven together. Also starring Ida Lupino as Agnes, Douglass Dumbrille as Colonel Forsythe, Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Dorian, Elsa Buchanan as Madame Pasquier, Christian Rub as Major Duquesnois, Donald Meek as Mr. Slade and Gilbert Emery as Wilkins. The casting of Cooper and Harding is perhaps a little odd, but that's partly good, it is a slightly strange film anyway, lovers who communicate mostly through dreams, though it is an oddity it became something of a landmark, I don't think it's the sort of thing I'd watch more than once, a reasonable classic drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Music for Irvin Talbot and Ernst Toch. Good!

zetes I've never been a big fan of Cooper, but he's adequate here as an architect who is obsessed with his long lost female best friend from childhood. I actually thought the first section of the film, which takes place during childhood with the characters played by Dickie Moore and Virginia Weidler, was the strongest. It's always surprising to come along a competent child actor in Golden Age cinema, so it was nice to have two of them here. The second section of the film has Cooper meeting the girl again, this time played by the beautiful Ann Harding. Unfortunately, she's married to a Duke. The third chapter I won't ruin, but I have to say I wasn't too happy with the fantastical premise of the two characters sharing each other's dreams. It seemed too out there for what is otherwise a realistic film. Still, you'd have to be made of stone not to be moved by it all. Henry Hathaway's direction is fine, and the cinematography is often exquisite. The score, which is the only aspect of the film that received an Oscar nomination, is particularly beautiful. Ida Lupino gives a short but great supporting performance as an Englishwoman Cooper meets on his holiday in Paris.

kenjha Strange film about the life-long love between a man and a woman is told in three parts. The first part shows them as childhood friends in Paris who are separated after he leaves for London. The second part has them meeting again as adults when he is an architect and she is a duchess. So far so good, with an engaging love story, but then things get too weird in the third part, dragging the film down. Although he is raised in London as the title character, Cooper doesn't even attempt a British accent while Harding's British accent comes and goes. Lupino, in a small role, does a fine British accent. Hathaway creates a haunting atmosphere.

malvernp If you are at this site and reading about "Peter Ibbetson"-----congratulations on having an exotic taste in films coupled with a deep-seated fascination with romance, fantasy, destiny and the power of love to conquer the most formidable of difficulties! We have seen a number of films from Hollywood's Golden Age that touched upon similar themes. From "Death Takes a Holiday" (1934) to "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), we suffered along with sympathetic lovers whose path to true fulfillment was strewn with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But in the end---somehow-----the force of love overcame every problem to ultimately allow for what was meant to be.These stories are ageless and have appeared as recently as "Somewhere In Time" (1980) and "Meet Joe Black" (1998)---itself a reworking of "Death Takes a Holiday." "Peter Ibbetson" may be one of the very best films to explore the force of destiny on young lovers linked from childhood to be together "forever." The beauty of this film is in its design, execution and performances.Henry Hathaway, the director, worked with Gary Cooper earlier in 1935 in the rousing action adventure "Lives of a Bengal Lancer." Are there two more dissimilar films than these? It is a tribute to Hathaway's skill and artistry that he could make both stories work so well when they were completed almost at the same time.Cooper excelled in portraying sensitive characters ("Pride of the Yankees" (1942), "Sergeant York" (1941), etc.) and Peter Ibbetson was well within his range of projecting an introspective romantic hero whose great love must be found in the world of dreams. It is a fine, deeply felt performance.Ann Harding, not well known today as a romantic actress, captures the complexity and subtlety of the story. Her ability to will the Cooper character into believing that their love must persist even if it exists only in their own imagination is both powerful and enduring.When contemporary critics take shots at the old Hollywood Studio System as nothing more than a glorified factory grinding out entertainment fodder for the masses, they ought to take a look at this strange, moving and truly unusual film. Its creators probably knew going in that it was not likely to be a box office hit given the nature of the subject matter. The fact that it was made at all and in such a sumptuous manner is an excellent tribute to the taste of the powers that be at Paramount.Seek out "Peter Ibbetson," You will be transported to a world that no longer exists---and into a story that requires the viewer to be a real romantic with great imagination. It will reward you with a deeply touching tale where true love finally wins out under the most extraordinary of circumstances. What more need be said?