One Sunday Afternoon (1948)

As Good As It Gets

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Description and DVD cover at top do not match movie reviewed below

NOTES: Third and final screen version of Hagen's stage play. COMMENT: Re-makes can almost always be compared in an unfavorable light with their originals. And this maxim certainly holds true for this re-serving of The Strawberry Blonde (although that movie itself was a re-make, it is the exception that proves the rule). For a start, the players are inferior. I mean, how can you compare Dennis Morgan (whom I like) with James Cagney? Or Janis Paige (whom I also admire) with Rita Hayworth? Admittedly, Don DeFore (never my choice for the world's finest actor) makes a surprisingly deft stab at the Jack Carson spot (though still falling short). The one and only really bright star in this new cast line-up is the lovely Dorothy Malone who comes across as a warm and enchanting Amy Lind. As for the script, with typical re-make oversight, the Epstein twins are not credited, even though it's quite apparent that Mr Richards has based his screenplay firmly on the 1941 movie rather than the 1933 stage play. In fact, he's made very few additions or changes and hasn't even bothered to alter or delete such giveaway lines as "That's the kind of a hair-pin I am!" Very appropriate for Jimmy Cagney but quite out of character for Dennis Morgan. Admittedly, a few indifferent new songs as well as some more old favorites have been introduced into the pot, plus a helping of not-so-funny comic routines for Mr Blue. On the other hand, some of the incidents retain sufficient power to induce a fair amount of laughter and the plot has still enough drama to survive even the well-intentioned efforts of this second-rate roster of players. Although Walsh's direction remains competent enough, he fails to refurbish anything like the luxuriant style and inventive flair he brought to Strawberry Blonde. Fortunately, the art director has taken advantage of the producer's splurge on Technicolor. The sets are entrancingly in period and the film is beautifully photographed in very delicate colors that consistently please the eye, even though the dialogue seems less attractive to the ear.

How can you outsing, outact and outdance Jimmy Cagney? Maybe you can't. At least Dennis Morgan didn't here in this film with the same characters and basic plot as 1941's Strawberry Blonde. Both films are colorful and feature a lighthearted glimpse at a turn-of-the-century romance, but 'Blonde' trumps 'Sunday' in almost every regard. Can anyone portray a brawling, impish, but lovable Irishman better than Cagney? No, and I am surprised that Director Raoul Walsh and Sunday's producers thought that a mere seven years after the release of Strawberry Blonde, people would forget how great Jimmy really was. There's another problem with this film, too. In both romances, Virginia is the femme-fatale that all men crave, while Amy is a mousy suffragette type that even Biff sees as second-best. In the first film, Virginia is Rita Hayworth and Amy is Olivia DeHavilland, while in the re-make, Virginia is Janis Page and Amy is Dorothy Malone. One can see the wise casting in the original, while in the remake, the ladies are of equal charm and beauty (but neither approaching even DeHavilland's Amy). A bright spot is Don Defore,(later 'Mr. B' of TV's Hazel) who makes the Barnstead role more likable. On its own, One Sunday Afternoon might have seemed an enjoyable B-grade musical, but by comparison, it is severely paled. I wonder why Walsh directed both only seven years apart??

I guess one man's meat is another man's poison--but believe me, this film in no way compares to the original STRAWBERRY BLONDE ('41) that starred James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland and Rita Hayworth.Not even the addition of gorgeous technicolor can make up for this lackluster telling of the dentist (Dennis Morgan) who marries a nice girl (Dorothy Malone) but can't forget his ill-fated romance with the town flirt (Janis Paige) and her crooked husband (Don deFore). These are all perfectly amiable screen personalities but they just don't deliver the socko performances of Cagney, de Havilland and Hayworth.Trust me, rent the video of STRAWBERRY BLONDE and see the difference!! This should have been a real charmer but it just falls flat--and Dennis Morgan is no replacement for James Cagney as Biff Grimes.The picture is as artificial as a turn-of-the-century postcard and the music is as banal as the script. Terribly disappointing.