A Meia-Noite do Amor

Let's Do It Again is the third rendition of the play The Awful Truth about an about to be divorced couple who really belong together, but have to wait until the end of the film to find out. Ray Milland and Jane Wyman are the couple repeating the roles that Cary Grant and Irene Dunne had back in 1937 in The Awful Truth.

This started as an Arthur Richman play back in 1922 which ran 144 performances on Broadway with Ina Claire in the lead. So Let's Do It Again has a distinguished pedigree. This version had a musical score attached to it by Lester Lee and Ned Washington, none of the songs you will remember.

Jane Wyman who could sing and dance proves she can again in this film, it's the main reason to see the film. Ray Milland starts off well, as the film opens you see him jamming on the drums at a club while Wyman thinks he's in Chicago. He fakes that pretty good, but when he's called on to sing, it's not his finest hour on the big screen. The main ballad in the film is sung by Dick Haymes on record to Wyman.

She has two suitors for her on the rebound, Tom Helmore and Aldo Ray. Ray is not terribly comfortable in the Ralph Bellamy part, Bellamy played his role in 1937 film. Helmore is a cad, as he many times is on screen.

The distinguished pedigree of Let's Do It Again does not guarantee a top quality product. Overall the film is all right, but there's nothing new that's really good here.

It's always fraught with danger when you re make something that's considered a classic, and this one is no exception, but I suppose with colour becoming the norm by the 1950's, as now, they tried a re make for newer generations. Don't think Ray Milland wanted to do it, but he was contracted to the studio. I certainly don't agree with the reviewer who said he was no good at comedy, that was his main stock in trade, and his breezy, suave comedy style brightened many a film over the years, wish there was someone half as good today. Jane Wyman could hold her own in a musical, she'd just made a couple of films with Bing, if you don't step up to the plate with Der Bingle, you look pretty shabby. The trouble wasn't with the players, it was the fact that the script wasn't as good as the original, and it doesn't pay to compare anyway, it's pleasant enough on it's own merits, no classic, but an enjoyable enough bit of fluff, carried by two veteran stars!

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.

Recently seeing this movie for the first time I was pleased to find that it is a very pleasant,frothy technicolored entertainment.Jane Wyman,whom I remember mainly from TV,is a very capable comedienne,and a very good singer.She is obviously enjoying herself,and looks very good too,in a dazzling Jean Louis wardrobe.Ray Milland plays her ex-husband in a Cary Grant type performance,and warbles a song or two.Aldo Ray is the new beau and also shows what a versatile actor he was.All in all,an undemanding Technicolor treat that is typical of it's period.Worth catching.8/10