I Love You Again (1940)

The Worst Film Ever

Good concept, poorly executed.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

You don't need to have amnesia to find something new every time you see this outstanding film that came at the height of screwball comedy era. It was released during one of the great years with classic gems such as "The Philadelphia Story", "His Girl Friday" and "My Favorite Wife" released the exact same year. William Powell portrays a boring business man who happens to get amnesia while away on business and when he returns home believing that he is grifter, discovers that he is married to the beautiful Myrna Loy, as well as the owner of one of the town's biggest businesses and the leader of a local boy scout troop. She's on the verge of getting a divorce from him and wants to marry Edmund Lowe, and instantly in love with her, tries to prevent her from going forward with her plans. It's obvious from the start who she has the chemistry with, and pretty soon she's perplexed by his change in attitude, his willingness to spend money on her, as well as her confusion over her changing feelings. She makes a decision to try to get to know him all over again.Practically perfect from start to finish, this isn't bogged down by a variety of subplots, including one where oil is discovered on land he owns and the attempt of various townspeople and strangers to con him into selling the property. The supporting cast includes Powell's co- stsr Frank McHugh from the 1932 classic "One Way Passage", once again playing another con-man, Nella Walker as his imperious mother, and "Alfalfa" in a tiny role as a member of one of the local scout troops.Among the comic highlights are Powell's impetuous decision to dance alone, his attempt to lead scouts on a merit badge hike, and the many attempts to woo Loy with bird calls. Once again directed by W.S. Van Dyke (who directed them in many classics), this isn't the remembered masterpiece that it deserves to be, but that makes this an instant sleeper that new fans can discover deliciously on their own.

Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? What are the rules? Amnesia, often used as a device for heavy melodrama, is given a humorous spin in I LOVE YOU AGAIN, a 1940 screwball comedy starring Hollywood's most popular screen couple. Since tonight's theme is amnesia and it's a complicated film, I feel it necessary to explain a little about the story. If you do NOT want to know any of the plot please stop reading: I LOVE YOU AGAIN contains one of the most absurdly complicated set-ups in the history of storytelling. Larry Wilson (played by William Powell) is a bland, penny-pinching, teetotaler, businessman from a small town. While rescuing a drunk who fell overboard while on a cruise, Larry gets knocked on the head, wiping out the last eight years of his memory. He now remembers that he is George Carey, a slick con man. In an incredibly unique twist and a brilliant start to the film, he doesn't undergo the effects of amnesia, but rather comes out of it. It turns out that nine years back, George suffered a similar blow, leaving him memory-free; he started up a whole new life as Larry Wilson, eventually doing very well for himself. The man he rescued is another con man (played by Frank McHugh), and the two realize they can turn this amnesia thing into a master swindle (pause) after all, George is already Larry, so now he just has to keep playing it up as the rich man he already is but can't remember. The other con man will pose as a respectable doctor looking after Larry's mental state, and the two will clean house. Ah, but things do not always go according to plan. For while Larry is happy to discover he's married to the gorgeous Kay (played by Myrna Loy), but she's divorcing him because he's boring. Once George/Larry realizes what a keeper Kay is, he must try to convince her to fall in love with him all over again, this time not as the stuffy old Larry, but as the new happy-go-lucky Larry. As I say, the story is quite clever, with Powell having to play the meek cheapskate Larry and the happy-go-lucky gambler George simultaneously, GET THIS depending on who he's with. Got all that? Me neither. But it sure is a whole heap of fun. In fact, I LOVE YOU AGAIN is one of the duo's finest works together, a rip-snorting screwball comedy that bounces with spectacular ease. With on exception - I resent the boring character being named Larry. This director "One Shot" Woody Van Dyke was known for shooting each scene as quickly and efficiently as possible. So when actors forgot or made-up some of their lines – it stayed in the film making the comedy all the more fresh! And it was tonight's director Van Dyke, who first brought Powell & Loy together in 1934's MANHATTAN MELODRAMA, and directed them in six films, including four Thin Man films including the first & the best. This was a good film for William Powell to come back to work on. Powell had a rough time during the late thirties. Since starting in 1922 he had averaged 4 or more features a year. At the beginning of the thirties he had been married to Carole Lombard, they divorced and he fell in love with another co-star Jean Harlow and was engaged to her when she died tragically at the age of 26 in 1937 while Powell was shooting Double Wedding with Loy. He had to stop filming and took months off to recover during which time he discovered he had colon cancer! While mending from surgery he only made one film in 1938, then in 1939 he made his third Thin Man appropriately tilted Another Thin Man. I LOVE YOU AGAIN was the only movie he made in 1940 and it was a huge critical & box office hit. His career continued for another 25 years but sadly for us he only made 18 more films before retiring. Myrna Loy was to make a costume period piece called The Road to Rome. With get this, Clark Gable playing Hannibal, and Loy a Roman senator's wife who beguiles him. But the play's anti-war message was considered a losing proposition on the verge of WWII, so it was scrapped. Powell would say of his costar, "Loy is, as always, "the perfect wife," witty, wise and loyal — she sees the essence of truth and is adorably charmed by it." Also in the cast is Edmund Lowe who some call "the poor man's William Powell" as he often took the roles turned down by Powell and their styles were very similar. Look also for bit parts from Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and little Robert Blake, taking time off from their "Our Gang" roles to play Boy Scouts. Hollywood's most famous extra Bess Flowers can be seen in Lingerie Department (so far she has been spotted in 829 films, more than any actor in history), two former silent film stars Jack Mulhall and Jason Robards Sr. play extras as office workers needing speedy decisions. I LOVE YOU AGAIN was such a success the studio decided to capitalize on the formula by bringing Loy and Powell together again the next year for LOVE CRAZY, in which he pretends to be insane in order to prevent their divorce. And in the latest bit of news the Johnny Depp remake of The Thin Man has been put on indefinite hold, seems they can't find the perfect actress to replace Myrna Loy… duh! Well tonight I hope you will all enjoy the real thing and may you REMEMBER IT for many years to come. And Thank You for supporting film preservation on the BIG screen!

Ironically, as I sat down to watch this film I had never seen -- a film about amnesia -- I had the sense of deja vu (all over again!). That's because the opening scenes were so much like some other old movie I had watched -- the drunk walking on the rail of the ship and falling into the ocean. Yet, once past those opening minutes, the film was all new to me. So, one way or another, one film-maker borrowed from another.In my view there is a huge flaw in this film, which I imagine most film-goers didn't even notice. If you do (and now you will), you'll have to overlook it...but that's okay...after all, this is a screwball comedy. At the start of the film, William Powell is a prim and proper teetotaler. He is then struck on the head and amnesia sets in. But instead of just not knowing who he is, he knows who he is...in his other persona. Then he goes back to his hometown and he is the prim and proper teetotaler he clearly always was. That's just not the way amnesia works. Although, others interpret this film as portraying a man who had amnesia for a decade, becoming someone else -- sort of a double or triple amnesia. It just doesn't quite work.But okay, other than that, this is a delightful film, and I think one of the very best of the William Powell - Myrna Loy pairings...yes, even better than the Thin Main series! It's genuinely funny! William Powell is wonderful, as usual...and Myrna Loy is delicious, as usual. For a change, Frank McHugh is bearable...in fact rather enjoyable...as the crooked "Doc". The rest of the cast does their jobs, but aren't standouts. It is nice to see Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer here as a child; he was 13 here.Although I think the amnesia plot is shaky, this film is definitely a treasure. Watch it and enjoy a masterful acting team!

Powell and Loy starred in 14 films. Although this is not one of their better efforts, their charm and chemistry makes it worthwhile. Powell is a shady fellow who snaps out of a nine-year amnesia spell to discover that he has become a shrewd businessman and a pillar of the community during this time except that wife Loy is about to divorce him because he's too dull. The premise sounds better than the execution. The bit where Powell goes into the woods with the boy scouts is not very amusing and is too drawn out, causing the film to lose momentum. Van Dyke is reunited with Powell and Loy, whom he directed in several of the "Thin Man" films.