Together Again (1944)
Anne Crandall is the mayor of a small town in Vermont. Her deceased husband had been the mayor for years and when he died, she was left to carry on and to raise his daughter from his first marriage. She lives with the daughter, her father-in-law and a housekeeper. In the town square, there was a statue of her late husband and every year since his death, they have an anniversary celebration there. This year during a thunderstorm, the statue is hit by lightning and the head falls off. The daughter insists that a new statue be erected instead of patching the old one. Mayor Crandall is sent to New York to interview the prospective sculptor, George Corday.
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Absolutely the worst movie.
A Masterpiece!
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
The first must-see film of the year.
Some fun big names in this one... Charles Coburn (Jonathan) was awesome in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".... Anne is played by Irene Dunn, who had made a whole bunch of films with Cary Grant. Lots of talking right at the beginning, and we hear how Mayor Anne Crandall has always been the straight arrow, putting others' needs before her own. This story has quite a bit in common with "Key to the City" from 1950. Small town mayor goes traveling to the big city, makes unwanted headlines, the troubles begin... although "Key" was MGM, "Together Again" was Columbia Pictures.. AND it came first. Although, honestly, "Key" was much more zany and fun. "Together" is much more sedate, calm, and collected. Boyer and Dunn are both stealing every scene, and we don't feel the chemistry we see in "Key to the City". Directed by Charles Vidor, who would also direct "Gilda" a couple years later . "Together Again" is pretty good. If you haven't seen "Key to the City", try to see that one too!
I almost gave up on this film after the first 15 minutes...talk, talk, talk...too much dialog that was not that interesting. I'm glad I stuck with it, because it developed into a pretty decent comedy.It's sort of "The Bachelor And The Bobby Soxer" X 2, although that is not the main gist of the movie...which is widowed town mayor (Irene Dunne) falling in love with suave sculptor (Charles Boyer), which simply won't work in that small town...or will it.Dunne is quite good with comedy, and demonstrates that here. Boyer does nicely, too...in fact considering that I am not a fan of his, I rather enjoyed him here. The real hoot of the picture is that scene stealer -- Charles Coburn! The other actors do their jobs, and this is quite a watchable film after the first little bit. While not one of Dunne's best films, it is worth watching...at least once...though it may not end up on your DVD shelf.
Anne (Irene Dunne) lives with her father Jonathan (Charles Coburn) and her step-daughter Diana (Mona Freeman). She commissions a sculptor George (Charles Boyer) to work on a statue of her late husband. He moves into her garage to complete the work and romance is in the air. But for who.....? The film is a comedy/romance that is never funny. Charles Coburn provides most of the funny moments but there are far more irritating sequences, namely, whenever Mona Freeman or her boyfriend Gilbert (Jerome Courtland) are on screen. She needs a clout round the head and he plays a simpleton who annoyingly repeats "Goodnight" as his cool talk. This couple are a complete mis-match - she is intelligent and lively while he is slow and moronic - however, they are both very irritating so there is a common trait there. Irene Dunne pulls a few funny expressions but it's not enough to make this film good. It's just boring.........and Charles Boyer looks like a pudding.
Even one of the most gifted and effervescent comediennes of Hollywood's golden era can't rescue the weak, silly (and sexist) script. Yet again Hollywood of the 1940s insists that a successful woman isn't complete, and can't be happy, unless she has a man - and invariably the plot is going to demand that she give up her career, because a relationship with a man is the only thing that matters. It's a premise that becomes increasingly hard to swallow as we get further and further away from the 1940s and 1950s. Charles Boyer plays the bohemian sculptor (who dresses like Saville Row) who she enlists to duplicate a statue of her husband, with graces the small town where she is Mayor, having succeeded her husband, who died. Charles Coburn is reliable comedic support, as her father-in-law, who relentlessly insists that her first womanly duty is to loosen up - in later years they'd say that she should get laid - and go for the man. There's a subplot about her precocious teen daughter, who falls for Boyer, and the daughter's lanky boyfriend, who then falls for Dunne. It's a duplicate set-up of an I Love Lucy episode a few years later. The film is forced, far-fetched, silly, basically unfunny. The stars struggle to bring a levity and wit that are simply missing from the dialogue, situations or premise. Dunne is so fetching, physically lovely, at the height of her beauty, and could deliver a line, arch an eyebrow, tilt her head, laugh, and make every man just fall in love with her, me included. She transcends an inferior script, not exactly enough to make the movie enjoyable, since it's mindlessly silly and predictable, and beneath the talents of the principal cast, but she is simply captivating. Charles Vidor also manages to inject some sparkle with his deft touch, to a sparkle-less script.