Otra vez juntos

I saw this film a long time ago, and I wish it were on television more often. According to another reviewer, it is not yet available on DVD, and I wish it were.

The film stars Irene Dunne as the widow of a small town mayor, and she hires a famous sculptor, portrayed by Charles Boyer, to sculpt a statue of her late "sainted" husband. After some hesitation on the part of Dunne, a romance follows, along with family predicaments that complicate the plot and create the comedy in the film. Throughout the film the tango number, "I Get Ideas," adds to the romantic atmosphere as widow Dunne finds she can love again.

The ending contains an unexpected comedic happening, and the viewer is left to imagine the outcome of plot. This film is one I would recommend to anyone who likes romantic films and "chick" flicks.

The DVD of this movie that I received from Netflix paired it with another Irene Dunne comedy vehicle, the 1936 release "Theodora Goes Wild," and I can see why. "Together Again" (a generic title, by the way, and one that doesn't even really make much sense), borrows many plot points from that earlier film and rearranges them just enough to prevent this film from being a straight remake.

Dunne plays the upstanding mayor of a provincial town who resists falling for an artist from the city (Charles Boyer) when she hires him to create a new statue for the town square. The statue happens to be of her late husband, the town's previous mayor, whose legacy Dunne has spent the years since his death trying to live up to. She becomes involved in a minor scandal while staying in the city, and tries to keep it from the town once she returns. But Boyer playfully uses it to blackmail her into accepting his advances. An additional storyline involving Dunne's daughter and her boyfriend adds some amusing complications to the situation.

This film is a little bit of nothing, but it's cute and entertaining. It doesn't make any sense; plot developments spring out of thin air, and characters turn on a dime. But Dunne and Boyer make a good pair, and it's easy to see why they collaborated frequently. They have a lot of chemistry, and I've never liked Boyer better than here where he gets to show his comedic charming side. Terrific character actor Charles Coburn plays Dunne's father-in-law, whose purpose in life is to get Dunne married again. Some of the film's funniest moments come from hearing the things he says about his own granddaughter, a neurotic teenager who drives him crazy.

There's a clever little weather motif running through the film that I liked very much and that ties the otherwise scattershot screenplay together rather nicely.

Grade: B

Fun teaming of Dunne and Boyer in a nice little comedy with good performances by all.

Dunne plays a widow who is mayor of a small Vermont town. She goes off to New York City to interview a sculptor (Boyer) for a town project but gets involved in a nightclub raid after she is mistaken for the stripper. Back in Vermont Dunne tries to forget Boyer but he shows up and moves into her garage to sculpt.

Dunne is goaded into "life" again by her father-in-law (Charles Coburn) and dramatic teen step-daughter (Mona Freeman). This get funny when Freeman thinks Boyer has proposed to her. To get even Dunne traps gawky teen (Jerome Courtland) into proposing to her. The four spar back and forth with Coburn get more and more confused until things finally straighten out.

Good support from Elizabeth Patterson, Charles Dingle, Janis Carter, Adele Jergens, Carl Switzer, Nora Cecil, Nina Mae McKinney, and Hobart Cavanaugh. Shelley Winters has a bit part.

Dunne and Boyer had great chemistry and three made films together.

Together Again casts Irene Dunne as a small town Vermont mayor who took over when her husband died. There's a statue to him in the town square that lightning removed the head of. It has to be replaced and she goes to New York to commission sculptor Charles Boyer to make a new statue,

Dunne's household consists of father-in-law Charles Coburn in one of his patented foxy grandpa parts and her teen daughter Mona Freeman. Both think she ought to move on and start dating. Even the job as mayor is more of an obligation as Dunne sees it. Boyer's arrival gives Coburn some hope.

This was one very nice comedy and the performances of Charles Dingle as Dunne's rival for mayor and newspaper editor and Adele Jergens as a stripper that Dunne gets caught in a nightclub raid with in a very funny sequence.

Together Again was the third and final time Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne were teamed on screen. This one is not Love Affair, but this is a funny film.

Exceptional American comedy from the 1940s. Superb acting, script, direction. Dunne is a dream. Boyer is brilliant. Coburn is a charm. Must-see film just to know what movies were like before most of us were born. Plot is clever and contrived, but it resonates as human and plausible nonetheless. I. laughed happily throughout. There are lots of obvious jokes but they're delivered with pointed perfection and impeccable timing. I'm going to look up other films written by the same scriptwriter(s), so I can see other of his/her/their films. I'll also check out more films by director Vidor who was a big star in the Hollywood Hey Day.