I Love You Again (1940)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Octavus Roy Cohen (novel)
Leon Gordon (story) ...

Release Date:

9 August 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

It's one, long, loud l-a-u-g-h!

Plot:

Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.

Plot Keywords:

Businessman | Amnesia | Cruise | Sophisticated | Pennsylvania

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

William Powell	...	Lawrence 'Larry' Wilson, aka George Carey
Myrna Loy	...	Katherine 'Kay' Wilson
Frank McHugh	...	'Doc' Ryan
Edmund Lowe	...	Duke Sheldon
Donald Douglas	...	Herbert
Nella Walker	...	Kay's mother
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Leonard Harkspur Jr.
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. W.H. Sims
Paul Stanton	...	Mr. Edward Littlejohn Sr.
Morgan Wallace	...	Mr. Phil Belenson
Charles Arnt	...	Mr. Billings

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #6390)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The ninth of fourteen films pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Harkspur, Sr., Littlejohn and Belenson visit Larry at his home to discuss the land deal, at one point he walks over toward the window and the other three men follow him; as they stop and continue their conversation, Harkspur can be seen holding his hat in his left hand. There is a jump cut to the next shot and Harkspur is now holding his hat in his right hand.

Quotes:

George Carey: You be careful madam, or you'll turn my pretty head with your flattery.
Kay Wilson: I often wished I could turn your head - on a spit, over a slow fire.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywood Remembers: Myrna Loy - So Nice to Come Home to (1991) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

One of Their Funniest

When the movie going public demands you back 14 times you know that something is being done right by both the studio and the players involved.

William Powell and Myrna Loy hit a real career high point in this film with a rather original plot gimmick. The amnesia gimmick is stood on its head in this film.

Powell and Loy are married and he's on a business trip involving an ocean voyage. Powell is something of a stuffed shirt when we meet him on the ship. When a drunken Frank McHugh falls overboard, Powell dives in to rescue him and in the process gets himself knocked out.

When he comes to, like in Random Harvest, he discovers his former identity which is that of a confidence man and as it turns out McHugh also is a full time grifter.

Unlike Ronald Colman who spent the whole of Random Harvest searching for his lost years, Powell has his identity there. Returning to his town with his new found friend McHugh, he finds wife Loy together with the fact he's a person of some means. But he also finds out that Loy was planning to get rid of him.

Powell together with McHugh and former associate Edmund Lowe try to work an elaborate con game on the town. At the same time Powell is falling for the woman he married and embarks on a campaign to win her back. Those two agenda items come into conflict.

Bill and Myrna are at their best in I Love You Again. Two highlight scenes for me are Powell's cooing courtship of Loy and his trip through the woods in his Boy Ranger uniform with his Boy Ranger troop. This must have been the same outfit that Jimmy Stewart was trying to get a summer camp for in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The goings on are similar to what Powell went through fishing in Libeled Lady.

I Love You Again is movie comedy at its very best. Don't miss it if TCM runs it again.