Remarions-nous

"Let's Do It Again" is a 1953 loose remake of "The Awful Truth," this time starring Jane Wyman, Ray Milland, Aldo Ray and Valerie Bettis. Milland plays Gary Stuart, a songwriter who occasionally takes off, saying he's going to Chicago or wherever, when all the while he's playing with nightclub bands in town. To make him jealous, knowing full well he's lying to her, his ex-performer wife Connie (Wyman) pretends she spent the night with a friend, Courtney Craig (Tom Helmore). Husband and wife have both carried their games too far and get a divorce, though they're still in love.

The comments on this site are a bit surprising regarding Wyman. People seem to forget that before Johnny Belinda, Wyman was a stunning blonde who did plenty of comedy. I never understood the brown hair and the short do, but she played the role of Connie well and did her own singing. Despite comments to the contrary, I thought she looked quite beautiful. Her clothes were nothing short of sensational in this Technicolor production. Milland does a good job as Gary. Aldo Ray looks quite handsome and is okay as Connie's wealthy suitor. Valerie Bettis is on hand to do some sexy dancing. The music in this film is bad.

It's no "Awful Truth," lacking in just about every department except maybe gowns. If you forget it's a remake of that classic, you should enjoy it for what it is - light fluff.

Once I realized that Ray Milland was doing a poor imitation of Cary Grant's mugging in the original screwball comedy, "The Awful Truth," I knew why the film failed to sparkle as a comedy. Added to the comedy are some musical interludes that fall as flat as the dialog. The whole film leaves you feeling that it's a silly waste of time.

And in the central role of a woman determined to win her hubby back, Jane Wyman is dressed to kill but looks more like an uptight woman too prudish to display herself in such a lavish wardrobe. Only when she lets loose pretending to be Milland's hyperactive sister and demonstrates some of her flair for musical comedy does her performance come to life. Otherwise, you keep expecting those tears to flow.

The story may have worked in the '30s when screwball comedy was supreme and was handled with comic dexterity by a sparkling cast. But here it gets a flat reception from an uncomfortable looking Ray Milland, a miscast Wyman and an equally out-of-his-element Aldo Ray.

Summing up: A bad remake of a popular screwball comedy, it falls far short of the mark in every department--writing, acting, direction. Only Tom Helmore (the scheming husband of "Vertigo") manages to look and act as urbane and distinguished as the part demands with the proper comic flair.

In 1937, director directed a clever romantic-comedy, "The Awful Truth". It starred Cary Grand and Irene Dunne and the film was often wonderful--one of the better films of its type in the 1930s. Now, in 1953, the much less famous director Alexander Hall is given the unenviable task of doing the remake--with lesser actors in the leads and a lot of unnecessary singing and dancing tossed into the mix. Is there any possible way he could even come close to the original in quality or laughs? Well, the answer is an obvious NO--and I pretty much figured this out before the movie began. After all, the only reason to remake a movie is if the original was somehow seriously flawed and the remake corrected this. But the original was awfully good, so polished and featured amazing actors at their best--so how could Ray Milland and Jane Wyman hope to recapture the magic. Plus, the new script certainly isn't any better-in fact it's much worse (the film just didn't know when to end--and the final song by Wyman was god-awful). It seems that the one relatively minor flaw I saw in the original was still in this one...that the wife really did have reason to divorce because it's implied that the husband really WAS cheating on her. And, cheating is certainly NOT a subject that makes a film romantic. Now a misunderstanding causing the divorce, that probably would have worked better.

The bottom line is see the original and only see this remake if you are bored and there's nothing better on the television. Not a bad film--just an unnecessary one.

Hey, people ! Lighten up ! Here are 2 dramatic stars giving more than serviceable performances in admittedly classic roles. But the bonus for me is a whole bunch of songs that I have loved for years. I don't understand how people can't like this tuneful score. I especially love "Takin' A Slow Burn" and "It was Great While It Lasted", but I love the whole score. Can you imagine a full batch of good, original tunes in a movie TODAY ??? Those days are gone forever, so I'll continue to enjoy pleasures like this one. Jane does indeed look gorgeous in her luxurious wardrobe, and that '50s pseudo art-deco apartment is great. Jane's "spastic gall bladder " scene is priceless, and Milland & Helmore in the closet with the hats (no, not THAT closet !) is a delightful bit of business. I'll take this flick any day instead of all these "blowin' up stuff" movies we can't seem to get away from.

Jane Wyman and Ray Milland star in this breezy musical comedy remake of the Cary Grant and Irene Dunne film, The Awful Truth. When Ray Milland tells his wife, he's going out of town, he's really playing the drums in dives all around town and jamming all night. But when he comes home early one morning (supposedly from Chicago) he finds her not there to greet him. She took the opportunity to teach him a lesson by going out and staying all night with a guy who has plans of his own. When she tells him the car broke down and they stayed at the Shady Nook motel in Feathersville, he doesn't buy it and suspects dilly-dallying. When the argument ensued and the trust was doubted, a divorce was settled on to end the marriage. Doesn't sound like a comedy, does it? Well, there are some songs, too, and Jane really puts on a show, while doing it. Even if her voice was dubbed, she was pretty convincing. I admit it's no classic like the original, but I enjoyed it and had some good belly laughs with its silliness towards the end. It seems a bit uneven with meandering here and there, but ultimately I think you will like its modest attempt of updating The Awful Truth with music.