GATHERING STORM OF SPOILERS (THE ENTIRE FILM)
I don't think you'll find a more touching start to a film than the one in Peter Ibbetson.
The minute Mimsey starts to cry for Gogo, I'm done. Just the sight of Mimsey wanting
to soothe Gogo was emotionally overwhelming to me. Her placing all her wood
(her heart) in his yard is one of the most emotional visuals I have ever seen.
What I love about this first screen cap is that Mimsey removes her doll from the
stroller. She throws the doll aside. The doll is a symbol of her selfishness. She
only cares about Gogo now.
Any person who can put aside their selfish wants and needs for the love of another
is special to me. Mimsey is special. Deep down, Gogo knows this, and he will forever
know this.
I'm someone who believes in playground love, even as an adult. I find it to be the least pretentious kind of love. The Ibbetson journey truly sets sail when Gogo says he can't leave Paris. Colonel Forsythe doesn't understand why he says this but Mimsey immediately understands his reason why and she promptly reciprocates Gogo's love for her by stepping forward and grabbing his hand. That's love at its purest and most innocent. I wish adults would understand this kind of love more often than they do.
The childhood scene finishes strong, with Gogo grabbing Mimsey's hand and the two
dashing off. It's a dash that everyone knows won't succeed, but just the effort to do
so was all that mattered. "Mimsey, I'll be back" are Gogo's final words to Mimsey.
The film understandably slows down at this point. And, boy, I really needed some
emotional recovery time, that's for sure. Gary Cooper's first scenes aren't flashy but
they are telling. I love that he's an architect and that the first shot we see of him is
of him working on a "doll house" for grown-up use. Perfect.
I liked this exchange with one of his co-workers:
One of Peter's Co-Workers: I'd rather have barmaids and gin than nothing.
Peter Ibbetson: I'd rather have nothing.
I also liked this exchange:
Mr. Slade: What is it, Peter? A lady?
Peter: No.
Mr. Slade: What then?
Peter: I don't know.
Mr. Slade: Well, whatever it is, it's no good runnin' away from it. Being happy ain't
in places. Being happy is inside of you. And, I think you ought to be a little ashamed,
Peter, a fine, big young man like you.
Peter: That's right, sir, give it to me. It is a little funny, though. Here I am with everything to be happy about, and I'm not. And here you are, as happy as anybody and, well, you have plenty to be unhappy about if you wanted to.
Mr. Slade: Don't you go feeling sorry for me. I've got everything a person needs, I have. I can hear things and smell 'em and see 'em, too. Those I want to.
Peter: What do you mean, you can see things?
Mr. Slade: Of course, I see 'em. I can tell you about some things just as good as you
can. And I know what that model looks like. And I've seen the way the ocean comes
in and goes all white when it swishes down. And flowers, and --
Peter: But, sir, you can't really see those things. You were born...
Mr. Slade: Yes, Peter, I was born blind, but I've seen things just the same.
Peter: But... but how could you? I mean --
Mr. Slade: You don't see just with your eyes. It's inside of you someplace. Some of 'em said it was dreams. But I says it's because I had to see that way.
Peter: Well, sir, it's... it's too much for me.
Mr. Slade: But that's because you ain't never had to make anything happen inside of you. You'll find out what's wrong and it'll be there, Peter. (He motions to his own chest with his hand.)
Peter: Well, sir, I... I wish it were as easy as it sounds.
Peter decides to take the holiday to Paris, where he meets Agnes (Ida Lupino). Agnes decides to make the first move with Peter by stepping on a pedal that controls the turnstile, thus not allowing Peter to leave the museum. I, of course, love that. I love women going after men.
Agnes: Look, I'll be through my turn here, in a bit. Wait for me?
Peter: Why not?
The words "wait for me" mean a helluva lot to Peter. He's been waiting forever, but at least he's willing to give the spicy lass a try. "Rather."
Peter delivers another strongly profound line at dinner with Agnes, saying this:
Agnes then goes on to say to Peter that he doesn't care if she has any legs. Peter says that he does. Agnes says that he doesn't, but Peter insists that he does. Agnes quickly picks up that Peter isn't like all the other guys who just want to have a good time with her and nothing else. She assumes it's because of another woman, which is true in a very odd way. This is yet another small scene that sets the tone for this uniquely powerful film.
Peter's senses start to come to life again when he visits his childhood home in Paris for the first time since he was taken away from his "Mimsey." He is "Gogo" once again, and all he can think of is "Mimsey" and all the fond memories he shared with her. His looking through the bars again to Mimsey's yard sets off a wonderful sensation within him. He then decides to go look at the tree where he last saw "Mimsey" and he utters one of the best lines in the film, "hello." One-word lines can be powerful, and this one is gut-wrenching.
Peter returns to London only to be informed by his boss that he's heading to Yorkshire to do some work for the Duke of Towers. Peter's boss also asks him how his Paris "holiday" went off. As any "normal" man asks a young, vibrant single man, he asks Peter if he "met any ladies?" Well, Peter isn't "normal." He's different than all the rest. And, in a way, this makes him "special"... or "crazy," depending on who you ask.
Mr. Slade: There's nothing like a holiday. Paris, and the ladies! Uh, there were
ladies, Peter?
Peter: Yes, there... there was a lady.
Mr. Slade: A lady. Oh, dear, dear, that sounds serious. Was she beautiful?
Peter: She was very beautiful. She was eight years old, still wore a little white dress,
and I shall never forget her.
Peter's next stop is Yorkshire to do some work for the Duke of Towers. The first time
he meets Mary (Mimsey), he does so through those familiar bars that always seem to be getting in their way. Mary quickly senses something is different about Peter, just as "Mimsey" always sensed this with "Gogo." Peter doesn't sense it with Mary yet. Of course, the two have to get into a spat on "what to do" right away and she calls him "impertinent." Yes, "Gogo" and "Mimsey" are back together again. After all these years, they are still very much the same. In fact, it's the disagreement between the two that stokes the fire. The playmates are together again. The playground is alive again.
Initially, the disagreement between Mary and Peter over how the stables
(dollhouse/wagon) should be constructed has ended their relationship again. But this is the "playground," a place where childish little spats can be soothed over rather quickly. Peter decides to mock Mary's ideas for the stable by sending her a humorous drawing of the horses enjoying his design. She giggles at the sight of the drawing. She giggles like a little girl. She asks Peter to join the dinner party and informs her butler that Peter is not to leave on the train that night. He's staying. He's "in."
The following exhange may seem to be quite minor, but I believe it to be very important: 
When Peter says the word "hello" this time, it's answered. "Mimsey" and "Gogo" are
unknowingly reunited. They are reborn.
The final moments of the dinner party features a beautiful connection between Peter and Mary.
Mary: You're smiling, Mr. Ibbetson. You saw something in the garden, perhaps, that
made you smile.
Peter: I thought so, yes. I thought I saw the new stables. Built my way and they were very beautiful.
Mary: Have you always had your own way?
Peter: Oh, since I was so high.
Mary: And I've always had my own way since I was so high.
Peter: Hmm, no one can remember that far back.
Mary: Oh, I can. Who are you, Mr. Ibbetson?
I love the line of, "you saw someting in the garden, perhaps, to make you smile?" Yes, he
saw "Mimsey" in her little white dress in that graden. Interestingly, Peter is lying about his
inability to recall his childhood but Mary is being quite honest. We are being told she does
still carry a torch for "Gogo." Maybe it's not as big of a torch as the one "Gogo" carries
for "Mimsey"... or is it?
As the stables are being built, Peter and Mary become closer and closer. Things are
going just too perfectly. This isn't the "Gogo" and "Mimsey" we've know. Not at all.
It's too perfect, too harmonious.
The following dialogue between Peter and Mary sets the stage for the upcoming events. It's a shared dream about a "gathering storm." The "gathering storm" is their love for each other and the price they will pay for such a love.
Mary: There's quite a storm gathering. I dreamed about a storm last night. It was
rather like that. The sun was shining quite brightly here and over there it was so black. We were out driving in a coach and four.
Peter: I never saw anything so black, you were very frightened, but you were smiling.
Mary: Yes I was, I was terribly frightened. And when the storm broke and the horses
started running...
Peter: I was just as frightened as you were, only I pretended I wasn't.
Mary: Yes, I know you were.
Peter: Do you remember my saying to you?
Mary: Yes, when they got to the river the horses would stop.
Peter: And after we came to the river?
Mary: I can't think.
Peter: Hmm. What are we talking about? How could we both know what happened
there?
Mary: Where? Oh, you mean in the dream?
Peter: Yes, the dream. But, how... how is it we could both be there and how could we
both know about it?
Mary: Well, I don't know, but... well, I assure you it can't be very important, Mr. Ibbetson.
Peter: Now, wait a minute. We can't laugh it away that easily.
Mary: But it's nothing. Nothing. We were probably talking about horses last evening and,
well, I remember discussing the storm that was brewing. And indeed, here it is.
Peter: Yes, but why should it happen to us?
Mary: Mr. Ibbetson, we're not mystics. I suggest we both forget about it.
Mary and Peter's feelings for each other are starting to brew like a gathering storm.
There's something pulling them together. What is it? Love? Fate? Destiny? What?
They are also displaying a very special bond, a spiritual connection.
Storms can move in quick, and this storm does. The very next scene, we get this
dropped in our lap: 
Gulp. I was stunned to hear that. What does a man do when presented with such a
direct challenge? I think most would lie. Not Peter. He has the courage to tell the
truth. He speaks his true feelings. He's no longer hiding, no longer pretending.
Mary: Have we ever so much as touched fingers?
Peter: No.
Mary: Have we ever given such a thing a thought?
Peter: I've given nothing else a thought. Have you?
Wow! I couldn't believe what I just heard. Peter is telling Mary in front of her husband that he wants to touch her, to love her. Unbelievable. My heart's racing at this point. And then Peter strikes a serious chord with me with the following monologue:
Peter (speaking directly to Mary): I'll tell you everything instead. I'll tell you what
you've done. Do you know what you've done for me? You've made life bearable. You've rid me of a pain in my heart I've carried all my life. She was a little girl, I-I've carried her in my heart and brain. A little girl in a little garden. We were torn apart. All women have faded before her face until I saw yours, and now I'm rid of her. I look at you and don't see her. I see you.
Gorgeous. Here Peter thinks he's finally found the cure for his long-lost love of
"Mimsey," but, instead, he's found her, his long lost love, "Mimsey." How poetically
beautiful. I was floored.
The plan is for Peter to leave the next day. Is there any way he could leave his long-lost love after all these years of pain and emptiness that existed inside of him? Ohh, heck no.
Peter's not going to take "no" for an answer. He's going after "Mimsey" because he
knows they belong together. It's their destiny. Does Mary feel the same way about
"Gogo"? She's the one with the husband. She's the one who has a major decision
to make, not Peter. Peter's decision is easy, but Mary's got to want it bad. Has she
really carried a torch for "Gogo" all these years? We soon find out that the answer
is a resounding "yes." She's scared of what she's about to do, and believes her fear
is almost like a premonition. Deep down, she knows it's not going to work out. The
storm will turn the sky black.
Peter: Tonight. Now. We're leaving here.
Mary: You couldn't go, could you?
Peter: Not without you.
Mary: Peter, we can't.
Peter: Listen, Mary. I loved you years ago, and I lost you. And I've never known a
moment's peace from that day until now. I went back to that garden not long ago, and you were still there, in that funny little white dress and I knew then that I had never loved anyone else and never could. And then I met you here. I didn't know it was you, but I fell in love with you again, and I'm not going to lose you again. Not ever. I don't want any more of life, Mary, without you.
Mary: Where were you, Peter, all these years? You didn't try to find me.
Peter: We'll make up for it.
Mary: We said we'd find each other.
Peter: The train leaves in a little while. We'll see him first and tell him, and then we'll wait
in the station.
Mary: We can't.
Peter: You mean you don't care enough.
Mary: Oh, Peter.
Peter: What else could it be? You got married. I didn't. You forgot our garden.
Mary: Yes, that's it. I forgot, didn't I? Do you know how much I forgot? Oh, yes, I forgot the garden and the little white dress. That's why I kept it, I suppose. And then I got married, didn't I? And that couldn't have been because life was so empty that nothing mattered.
I love this moment because it shows just how much "Mimsey" cared about "Gogo."
I also like it because it soothes Peter's doubts that he's not the only one who is deeply in love. Mary is just as in love with him as he is with she. She hadn't shown Peter this until this very moment. Now Peter knows his love is being matched. It's the greatest feeling in the world for Peter.
Peter: Mimsey.
Mary: They... they tore it all to pieces, pulling me down out of the tree.
Peter: Get dressed.
Mary: I'm afraid.
Peter: Why?
Mary: I don't know. But he's been kind. We'd have to hurt him.
Peter: We can't help that. That isn't reason enough for losing each other. Do you
remember this afternoon at the stables? We found we even shared each other's dreams.
Mary: What was that, Peter?
Peter: I don't know. But I do know that we knew what had happened. And I know this. No two people could be so close if they weren't meant to love each other. It isn't right of us to think of anything else. You know that, Mary.
Mary: Yes. Of course I know that.
Peter: Mimsey, it's you.
The two playmates have, for the first time ever, expressed their deep love for each other:
they've shared a kiss. They are together. They are becoming one.
In the following two caps, you will see that "Mimsey" drops the little white dress,
letting us know that the past is dead and the present is now alive. 
Sadly, the future is about to turn dark for Peter and Mary. Fate is about to enter
the picture and spoil what could have been, what should have been.
What I especially like about this moment is that it shows history repeating itself.
"Gogo" and "Mimsey" held hands when "Gogo" was taken away by "the authorities"
when he was boy and now the authorities are about to take him away again. The
sound of knocks on the door are ominous.
From this point on, I believe the film becomes so very heartbreaking. Peter is sentenced
to life in prison for killing the Duke and he will never again be able to be with his "Mimsey."
The bars around his physical being are damaging but the bars around his love and mind
are crippling. He will forever be haunted by "what could have been, what should have
been." Self-torture can be far more painful than physical torture. Self-torture can be
everlasting. This will be the case with Peter.
The next big moment in the film sees Peter being punished for his disobedience. He
takes a major blow to his back, thus seriously injuring him. Mary feels this pain
herself despite not being anywhere near the prison. She let's out a murderous scream.
Peter falls to the ground. His back is broken, but is it as broken as his heart?
The only thing that keeps Peter going in life are thoughts and dreams of his "Mimsey."
He is both happy and sad in this world. The problem is, all of this is imagined. His
wishes will never come true. He tries to fight himself. He tries to force himself to stop
believing, to stop loving. But the mind cannot be fooled so easily. It's a constant tug
of war, one that he often loses.
Mary comes to Peter in a dream. The dream shows just how much Peter is attempting
to fight off Mary in his mind. He wants to be free, but he just can't let go.
Mary (imaginary): Peter. Peter, dear. Peter.
Peter: Mary. (He then sees the imaginary Mary.) Mary!
Mary (imaginary): Listen, dear. Listen. You're free, Peter. You're free.
Peter: Free?
Mary (imaginary): Take my hand. We're going to escape.
Peter: How?
Mary (imaginary): Take my hand.
Peter: It's a dream.
Mary (imaginary): Come, Peter.
Peter (He grabs the bars): It is a dream.
Mary (imaginary): Peter. Peter. Listen to me. Don't you understand? We're dreaming
together, just as we did once before.
Peter: But it isn't real.
Mary (imaginary): Who is to say what is real and what is not real? We're dreaming true.
A dream that is more than a dream. Oh, you must believe me.
Peter: Believe? Lies. All this is a lie I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming you. I'm dreaming
myself. I'm not talking to you here. I'm sleeping over there with a broken back. It's going
to be a long sleep because I've made up my mind I'm going to die, tonight.
Mary (imaginary): I know. I know. And you will, unless
Peter: I'm... I'm talking to you as if you were really here.
Mary (imaginary): I am here. Oh, you must believe that, Peter, it's our only chance.
Don't ask why, just... just believe. Perhaps it's because our love is so deep. Oh,
Peter, don't you see what is before us? We can be together, not only now, but always.
It's happening now. It's happened before and we can make it happen again.
Peter: No! No. In a moment you'll disappear and I can't wake up to this again. Leave
me alone. Leave me alone.
Mary (imaginary): I won't. I won't let you die. I love you. They're driving me from you.
I must find some way. Peter, look. Listen to me. Do you see this ring? Is it real?
Remember it. If I promise to send it to you tomorrow, will you try to live until then?
When you get this ring here tomorrow, then will you believe? Look at it. Unless I'm
really here now, I couldn't know to send it to you. Look at it. Do you see it?
Peter: Yes.
Mary (imaginary): Remember it. You'll get this ring tomorrow.
Peter: Mary. Tomorrow.
Peter is expected to die in the night from his serious back injury, but his eternal love for Mary is the only thing that keeps him going. He must make it through the night just to "see" Mary the next morning. "Mary" is the ring.
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