Perdida de Amor

Rodeo cowboy Chris (Fred MacMurray) has a whirlwind romance while visiting New York for a charity gig where he meets song writer Kay (Irene Dunne.)

After rapidly getting married she drives cross country to his ramshackle Wyoming ranch where she becomes stepmother to his two daughters from his first marriage.

Much of the movie sees Kay trying to adjust to her life at the ranch and raise her new stepdaughters. Problems begin with the neighbouring rancher who holds the water rights and whose cow, Kay accidentally shoots.

Kay contemplates returning to Broadway to earn money in this fish out of water comedy. The cast make the film better than it should be, there are a few songs but it really is not that funny and rather predictable.

With Fred MacMurray and Irene Dunne headlining this film, one could expect some great comedy. But, unfortunately, the screenplay just doesn't have it. "Never a Dull Moment" is still a good film and an okay comedy and romance. It has a nice family touch to it with two young daughters of MacMurray's Chris Hayward. One of those is Natalie Wood as 12-year-old Nan.

The film is based on a 1943 biographical novel by Kay Swift (1897-1993), "Who Could Ask for Anything More?" She was a well-known composer for Broadway and Hollywood. Swift had met cowboy, Faye Hubbard, at a rodeo in 1939 and two weeks later married him. She went with him to his Oregon ranch, but the marriage only lasted seven years. She had three children before that in her first marriage, so they may have been on the ranch with her. Atter her 1946 divorce from Hubbard she married again, and that marriage lasted 23 years but ended in divorce in 1969. She wrote her book about the life on the ranch with her second husband while they were yet married.

This film reminds one a little of "The Farmer's Daughter" of 1947 that starred Loretta Young and Joseph Cotton. In that film, Young plays a farm girl who goes to the city. She can do multiple chores and household tasks without problems. That's a great comedy, romance and satire, with a tremendous screenplay. In this film, the writers have Dunne's Kay learning the ropes of farm life including housework, farm chores, etc. But, very little of it involves mishaps or comedy. Nor does MacMurray provide much comedy beyond a couple of lines.

The one thing that Irene Dunne gets to do in this film is sing. She had a good voice but didn't have many roles that included singing. Here she has a couple of tunes- one solo and once with the Western crowd in her home. Maybe the real Kay could sing too.

If one wants lots of laughs, they won't be found here. But, for a light film with a nice family story and some humor, this one will do very nicely.

This movie featured Irenne Dunne city slicking wife who marries a widower rancher. She and her husband (Fred McMurray)are just a fun couple who have many funny incidents that happen as a married couple. This movie is reminiscent of The Egg and I that Dunne is featured in during the 1940s. Although some say this movie is not very good for Dunne and that it is predictable-- it is funny, innocent, and a great movie for a Sunday afternoon with the family. My family and I have watched copies of this on VHS for years and I even bought another copy off ebay hoping to get a better copy (but it happened to be a copy recorded from TV--BOO ebay!). Anyway my aunt asked me to borrow my copy just the other day and I couldn't help but to watch it again. It requires little though some good laughs and a love of classic films as a prerequisite to watch this one.

Never A Dull Moment is based on the book written by Broadway composer Kay Swift who gave up the bright lights of Broadway to settle down as a rancher's wife. Although it won't make the list of Irene Dunne's best films, it does have its amusing aspects and holds up pretty good today.

The real Kay Swift according to her Wikipedia biography in 1939 met a rodeo cowboy and in a whirlwind courtship, married him and settled down on his ranch. Previously Swift whose two best known songs, popular to this day are Fine And Dandy and Can't We Be Friends, was involved in a long term relationship with George Gershwin. She had also been married before and I believe Philip Ober's character is based on her ex-husband, Paul James.

In any event the film bears some similarities to another true story about urbanites moving to the country, The Egg And I in which Fred MacMurray also starred. Nobody could ever complain about Fred MacMurray as a light leading man in comedies. But as he himself said in westerns, even modern ones, the horse and he were never as one. The part MacMurray plays is not to dissimilar from the one John Wayne did in A Lady Takes A Chance. I think the Duke would have been great in the role and we would have seen a once in a lifetime teaming of Irene Dunne and John Wayne.

Natalie Wood and Gigi Perreau play MacMurray's two daughters who take to Dunne quite easily, none of the stepmother angst in this film. And William Demarest has a great role as a grumpy old neighbor that MacMurray and Dunne have to put up with because he has the source of their water on his property.

Not a great comedy for Dunne like The Awful Truth, Theodora Goes Wild, or My Favorite Wife, but an amusing film that will please her fans.

The reviews on this board seem to hold Dunne and MacMurray up to their usual elite standard of comedy. There is nothing wrong with that if you only want to see the best of the best. So, if that's all you have time for, then perhaps you'll want to pass on this one.

However, I watched this film today for the second time. Honestly, I didn't care much for it a few years ago, so I wrote it off. However, I recorded it thinking maybe I'd been too hard on it and as I watched it again, I realized that I had been a bit too judgmental.

The weakness lies in the script. Perhaps the aging Irene Dunne (who certainly still looked lovely and young for her age), wasn't being offered the best scripts anymore. I find that sad for an actress of her caliber, but it still happens today when actresses approach the age of 45-50.

However, it is still a cute comedy with a fine cast. Fred MacMurray is a macho but weary cowboy with financial problems. His performance reflects this stress effectively. His daughters are a bit precocious at first, but Irene passes their tests and their affection grows.

The supporting cast is fine. I love the telephone scenes where all the local women can listen in on a conversation and, of course, begin gossiping. Poor Irene Dunne's character is worked to death by everyone with little appreciation, but this is purely for comic effect. Gigi Perreau and Natalie Wood were darling and great little horsewomen. If Natalie was having an awkward stage, as mentioned in some other reviews, then I'll take hers over the one I had with no braces and an unflattering Dorothy Hamill haircut when I was 11.

Overall, this isn't the best of the best, but it's certainly not the worst of the worst. It's still worth a watch if you enjoy these actors or this genre. Predictable and formulaic it is, but it's still much better than most of what's showing today. Also, it has some catchy songs and we get to enjoy hearing Irene's lovely voice.

I'm glad I viewed this one again. It was a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon with some of my favorite stars.