'Til We Meet Again

Classy, richly appointed remake of One Way Passage is close to a scene for scene remake but the talented cast manage to make it fresh. Brent is less stolid than usual and he and Merle make a handsome couple surrounded by a terrific group of character actors. Eric Blore is amusing as usual in a small role, Pat O'Brien full of quiet integrity as George's minder and Geraldine Fitzgerald is lovely and solid in a small role as a newlywed. But the real standouts are under-appreciated Binnie Barnes as a con-woman who has a past with Brent and most of all Frank McHugh as his loyal tippling friend, he manages to make a stock character very human.

'Til We Meet Again is a remake of Warner Brothers earlier film, One Way Passage, a story of doomed romance that starred William Powell and Kay Francis. This film and the previous one concerns the shipboard romance of a man being brought back to the United States in custody to face the gas chamber in San Quentin and a terminally ill woman on a cruise for one last fling at life. Taking the parts of Powell and Francis are George Brent and Merle Oberon.

I can see Jack Warner's mind at work on this one. The year before George Brent had romanced and treated the terminally ill Bette Davis in Dark Victory. Why not get Brent into a remake of this other film about a dying woman and her last romance? We even get Geraldine Fitzgerald in this one in the same part, best friend to the terminally ill woman.

The part of the police lieutenant escorting Brent is built up considerably from One Way Passage where the role was played by Warren Hymer. Here Pat O'Brien is the cop and he's nobody's fool. Still Brent has friends on board, Frank McHugh who's a con man with a nice drunk act and Binnie Barnes who's a con woman with a phony French accent. She goes after O'Brien and not totally in the line of duty. She's also my favorite in this film.

Oberon and Brent make a beautiful pair of lovers and one had better have as big a supply of handkerchiefs as one did in watching One Way Passage.

George Brent and Merle Oberon star as doomed lovers in "'Til We Meet Again," also starring Geraldine Fitzgerald, Binnie Barnes, Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh. This film is a remake of the beautiful "One Way Passage" starring William Powell and Kay Francis. Some of the scenes and dialogue have been kept exactly, new scenes and characters have been added, and one relationship has changed in this version. Frank McHugh reprises his role as a petty crook, now named Rockingham.

But it's the same story, told in a much more dramatic fashion than "One Way Passage" which somehow kept its whimsy though it is the tale of two people who are going to die - one by the hangman's noose and the other from heart disease - who fall in love as they're traveling from Hong Kong to San Francisco by ship. Neither knows the fate awaiting the other. Hardesty (Brent) is being brought back to the states by a tough detective (O'Brien) who also has a heart. He's attracted to a Countess (Barnes), who is a phony and after the money of a wealthy Brit (Eric Blore). In this film, it is not Rockingham who knows the Countess (Binnie Barnes) but rather Dan Hardesty (Brent), and this script has given them a past romance as well. The Countess tries her best to keep the sergeant occupied while Hardesty plans his escape, with Rockingham playing middle man.

This poignant tale is given more profound treatment both in the writing and by director Edmund Goulding. Part of the reason for this is that it was intended to be another "Dark Victory," but Bette Davis refused it. In fact, the part that Geraldine Fitzgerald plays, someone Joan (Oberon) meets and befriends aboard ship, is very similar to the role she played in "Dark Victory." George Reeves (who went on to play Superman on TV and is now the subject of a film himself) plays Fitzgerald's husband.

Brent is no William Powell, of course - his character is rougher around the edges and doesn't have the sense of humor or irony that Powell gave Hardesty. Brent, however, gives a solid, tender performance. McHugh this time around shares the comic honors with Eric Blore and therefore has less to do, and there's a lot less comedy. Binnie Barnes' Countess is less exotic than Aline McMahon's and sadder. O'Brien's Sgt. Burke is older and tougher this time around, though he's still a soft touch.

Though Kay Francis was lovely as Joan in "One Way Passage," Merle Oberon is breathtaking in beauty and frailty. For this viewer, she's the best thing about this remake. Desperate to live after she meets Dan, she savors each moment, refusing to consider the consequences of too much activity. It's a heroic, heartbreaking performance.

It was fascinating to be able to see and compare both films. Both are successful in their own way. The ending is the same in both, so expect to smile and cry at the same time. It's as uplifting as it is poignant, and no matter the treatment of the story, the message of "'Til We Meet Again" and "One Way Passage" is the same: Love is the only thing that lasts.

If you like romance, you must see this movie. It is well written, beautifully directed, and superbly acted. The music, too, is memorable. Merle Oberon is perfection. George Brent is excellent. Binnie Barnes is masterfully restrained and right on the mark. Unless you are emotionless, make sure you have some tissues ready. This is a remake of an earlier movie that starred William Powell, but it is so much better thanks to the perfect casting of Merle Oberon in the lead. She is the force that propels this story. Along with the romantic thread of the movie, there is a compelling drama of two men, a criminal and a cop, bound together on a ship carrying the criminal back to prison. The drama and the romance are flawlessly blended in a tale that never drags.

George Brent stars as a murderer who has been traveling the world avoiding his execution. On his tail the whole way is the detective, played by Pat O'Brien. Once Brent is finally apprehended in China, he's taken aboard a cruise ship bound for America. There he meets Merle Oberon and they fall in love. However, they both are hiding secrets--Brent cannot bring himself to tell her he will be executed and Oberon cannot bring herself to tell him she's got a fatal heart condition. While this may sound a bit sappy and contrived, it did work reasonably well--mostly because the detective agreed to let Brent keep the secret until they docked in San Francisco.

Had I never seen ONE WAY PASSAGE, then I might have been tempted to score this picture much higher. That's because 'TIL WE MEET AGAIN is a remake of ONE WAY PASSAGE and in most every way, the original is a better picture. The original film starred William Powell and he was at his best in this film. While I always love George Brent in films, he just couldn't beat Powell's performance and so he was handicapped from the outset. The original film was also better because it was more concise, didn't rely as much on secondary characters and plots and just sparkled. Side by side, there just isn't much to merit watching 'TIL WE MEET AGAIN. The latter film adds too many plot elements and draws out the eventual parting too long. And, to top it off, create a possible loophole at the end of the film (depending on how you interpret it)--even though there is no way the lovers could have had a happy ending.

Nope...stick with the original.