'Til We Meet Again

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.

'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.

Excellent and very enjoyable, 'Til We Meet Again is about an escaped prisoner and an ill woman who fall in love on a cruise ship. This movie had me figuratively grabbing for the tissues. But I won't discuss the plot so as not to spoil anything. Suffice it to say, the movie starts sweetly, and quickly becomes unexpectedly compelling and enormously satisfying -- as very few movies are.

It stars Merle Oberon and George Brent, and they are both great! I could hardly believe this was the same George Brent as his sedate character in Dark Victory.

And Merle Oberon is breathtaking. So exquisitely beautiful, and charming and delicate like porcelain. Her looks and mannerisms and innocent style and charm reminded me very much of Audrey Hepburn, and I kept wondering if Hepburn could have played the role (had she been the correct age), but I concluded Oberon was definitely the right actress.

Merle's unusual, exotic dark looks, otherworldly beauty, and rare talent and magnetism prompted me to look up more about her, and I found out she was born in India and was half Indian! Her mother was Indian. That explains her unique look and air, which sets her apart from all other Hollywood stars.

This film, like Now Voyager and Ship of Fools, and all the greatest classic love stories, has a beautiful musical love theme that carries you through the movie, whenever the two lead characters are together. 'Til We Meet Again's love theme is exquisite.

This movie is a well-made, very classy film that's enjoyable, captivating, moving, and extremely fulfilling. The characters are engaging and unforgettable, emotionally identifiable and heartfelt. I certainly recommend 'Til We Meet Again, especially if you love romances, or especially if you love classic films/dramas that are unusual and exquisite.

I watched this movie tonight. It is a well done remake. Bette Davis & Marlene Dietrich passed on the lead, so it went to Merle. She made the part of Joan her own. But...there is little to no chemistry between her and George Brent. I saw no passion between these doomed lovers. George Brent was a popular star, but his acting is so wooden; I really had a difficult time finding why she loved him so desperately. I would recommend the movie to Merle Oberon fans.

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.