Una donna dimentica

I gave this little ditty a 9 out of 10 because it's worth it to see some very funny dialog, good acting, and three very beautiful stars! Sometimes I'm a classic film 'snob' and prefer not to waste my time watching trash, so please know that I grade harshly. So, it was with delight that I discovered this little gem I'd never heard of. I'm a huge fan of Lew Ayres; he can do no wrong in my book - ever. I see that "Remember?" didn't get glowing reviews, and I urge you not to let that stop you. I rarely laugh out loud while movie-watching, but I found myself doing so! This is an adorable bit of cinema. It was NOT meant to be sophisticated or thought-provoking. It's for FUN - plain and simple!

Fairly mundane, but foreshadows "sunshine of the spotless mind" fifty years ahead. Acting is charming. Script amusing if labored. I did find myself chuckling from time to time. Any attempt at building a real story usurped by "Thin man style" drunk acts of principals. Billie Burke is a highlight and the plot device of the erased memories is fun. The directing seems to be the problem here as the movie never reaches a strong comedic pace necessary for the screwball underpinnings. Lots of fun moments that don't add up to any kind of structural pay-off, not a bad movie just fails to be a great one. if you like screwball the elements are here. If you have seen the great ones here is one to understand what makes the others great. Maybe Charlie Kauffman stuck this baby in his subconscious for the gimmick idea of memory loss through which kismet repeats its destiny. Lew Ayres seems like an earlier version of Jack Lemmon.

I loved seeing Robert Taylor in just about any movie, with exception of Quo Vidas (badly miscast). Here is struggling with a concept that the writers and director did not see clearly enough before they executed. Some of the dialog seemed forced because it was not quite right. For the emotion of the moment. You see this clearly with 3 very good actors. That being said, some of it was hilarious, especially the scenes with Taylor and his horse. For those who may not be aware, he was an experienced rider who later did his own riding in the Westerns that he made. Billie Burke was also great as the ditzy mom! See this film for it's, especially, Robert Taylor.

I gave "Remember?" a 6 because of the cast ONLY. I knew there had to be a disaster made during the "magic" year of 1939, and sure enough, this is it. Robert Taylor, Greer Garson, and Lew Ayres star in what surely is the foreshadowing of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" except that this is one case where a later film is better than one from the classic era.

The film concerns a man, Jeff Holland (Taylor) who falls in love with his friend Sky's (Lew Ayres) fiancé Linda (Garson) and abruptly marries her. However, he's a workaholic. This makes her very unhappy, and the two divorce. Desirous of getting them back together, Sky uses an experimental drug, that sounded like mematine. It erases everything that happened in the last six months. Interesting, because today there is a drug called memantine for Alzheimer's, so it actually has an opposite effect.

"Remember?" is only mildly funny. It lacks the pace of a comedy - it's one of those in between things where the story isn't compelling enough to be a drama but doesn't come off like a comedy either. The main part of the plot comes practically at the end of the film. One scene I did love - Billie Burke, as Garson's mother, has a surprise congratulatory party for the new couple. When they arrive, she has everybody hide behind furniture - which has become somewhat tedious, because the Hollands are late and the entire group has been hiding on and off for hours. When they arrive, Jeff and Linda are sent into the library, where Jeff complains to Linda about her father and her family's boring, blowhard friends. Then Billie Burke yells surprise. A very good scene, but there weren't enough of these in the movie to justify it.

The performances are good. Taylor is unbelievably handsome and really did have a nice flair for comedy. Lew Ayres, in real life a pacifist, vegetarian, and a very spiritual man, somehow played drinking men very well, and does so in this. Garson was still very early in her career but had already received an Oscar nomination. Guess Mayer thought she was a flash in the pan - this is hardly a step in a prestige career. Garson probably hoped she never was nominated for an Oscar again - who knows what MGM would do to her next. Fortunately it didn't work out that way.

"Remember?" is one of those films you'll more than likely want to forget.

After Greer Garson made her film debut in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," she was awarded an Academy Award nomination and gained international stardom. Her second film was "Remember?" which I'm sure Miss Garson would rather have "forgotten." A silly script that totally wastes the talents of not only Garson but Robert Taylor and Lew Ayres as well.