Born to Love 1931

During World War I, American nurse Doris Kendall Constance Bennett works bravely in London, tending wounded soldiers while the city rattles with air raids. In the tense shelter of a blackout, she meets Captain Barry Craig Joel McCrea, a dashing American aviator on a brief leave. The two quickly connect, sharing warmth and laughter, and they fall in love even as the war rages on around them. They dream of a life together after the fighting ends, savoring the moments they steal from danger and distance.

Craig must return to the front, and soon Doris receives devastating news: he has been shot down behind enemy lines and is presumed dead. Grief drives her to seek comfort in a longtime admirer, Sir Wilfred Drake [Paul Cavanagh], and she discovers she is pregnant with Craig’s child. On Armistice Day, Drake proposes, and though she hesitates at first, she ultimately accepts, believing that marriage would be best for the baby and for herself.

The couple’s life seems to settle into a steady happiness—the child will be the official heir to the Drake estate, and for a while, everything appears harmonious. That peace is shattered when Craig reappears, forcing Doris to confront a heart torn between two men. She visits Craig, and Drake learns that she is still in love with him. He responds by divorcing her and winning custody of their son, while Doris remains haunted by the possibility of a future with the child she longs to raise.

Two years pass, and Doris is barred from seeing her son. When permission is finally granted, she arrives to learn that her boy has died, sending her into a spiral of despair as she wanders the streets. It is there that Craig finds her, still deeply in love, and in a moment of vulnerability and longing, she agrees to marry the man she never stopped loving. Their tale closes on the note of renewed commitment, hope, and the promise of a life rebuilt together.