I Love You Again (1940) User Reviews

I don't remember you!

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 22 March 2005]

W.S. Van Dyke seems to be having a blast directing this madcap comedy that brings together one of the most endearing couple of the cinema: Myrna Loy and William Powell.

"I Love You Again" starts aboard a Trans Atlantic crossing where we meet Larry Wilson. He is a tight man with his money, as shown at the ship's bar where his penny pinching is embarrassing. After an accident lands him on the water, Larry suffers a blow to the head and he becomes amnesiac, reverting into a former self, a con artist. With the help of his new best friend, Doc Ryan, he realizes he's struck gold. He's rich!

Little prepares Larry for what awaits him on arrival in New York. His wife, Kay, is at the pier! Nothing makes sense of Larry, and thus begins a game of catch up with his new persona. Along the way, Kay and Larry battle because she doesn't want any part of the stingy Larry. We watch Kay as suddenly falling for Larry as he seems a changed man. Love will win in the end!

William Powell plays the double personality man Larry Wilson/George Carey, with his usual flair. Myrna Loy is shown at her best. She showed such a beauty and sophistication in the film that's hard to imagine anyone else playing Kay. Frank McHugh is excellent as Larry's would be partner-in-crime. Edmund Lowe and Donald Douglas are good as well.

The movie is a lot of fun and will reward anyone watching it.

One of Their Funniest

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 26 March 2006]

When the movie going public demands you back 14 times you know that something is being done right by both the studio and the players involved.

William Powell and Myrna Loy hit a real career high point in this film with a rather original plot gimmick. The amnesia gimmick is stood on its head in this film.

Powell and Loy are married and he's on a business trip involving an ocean voyage. Powell is something of a stuffed shirt when we meet him on the ship. When a drunken Frank McHugh falls overboard, Powell dives in to rescue him and in the process gets himself knocked out.

When he comes to, like in Random Harvest, he discovers his former identity which is that of a confidence man and as it turns out McHugh also is a full time grifter.

Unlike Ronald Colman who spent the whole of Random Harvest searching for his lost years, Powell has his identity there. Returning to his town with his new found friend McHugh, he finds wife Loy together with the fact he's a person of some means. But he also finds out that Loy was planning to get rid of him.

Powell together with McHugh and former associate Edmund Lowe try to work an elaborate con game on the town. At the same time Powell is falling for the woman he married and embarks on a campaign to win her back. Those two agenda items come into conflict.

Bill and Myrna are at their best in I Love You Again. Two highlight scenes for me are Powell's cooing courtship of Loy and his trip through the woods in his Boy Ranger uniform with his Boy Ranger troop. This must have been the same outfit that Jimmy Stewart was trying to get a summer camp for in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The goings on are similar to what Powell went through fishing in Libeled Lady.

I Love You Again is movie comedy at its very best. Don't miss it if TCM runs it again.

Delightful William Powell and Myrna Loy vehicle

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 31 January 2006]

After saving a life, William Powell becomes the victim of amnesia in "I Love You Again," a 1940 film also starring Frank McHugh and Edmund Lowe - this having the distinction of two Philo Vances, Lowe and Powell, in the cast.

Powell plays a cheapskate named Larry Wilson. While on a cruise ship, he jumps into the ocean to save "Doc" Ryan (McHugh) and suffers a head injury. When he wakes up, he has become his former self, a con artist named George and has no memory of the respectable, conservative, stingy life he has been living for some years. Off the ship, he discovers that his lovely wife (Loy) can't wait to get rid of him - or so she thinks, until she realizes that "Larry" is a changed man - for the better.

Powell is out and out hilarious in this film. For such a distinguished looking man, he has provided this writer with almost as many laugh out loud moments as the Marx Brothers. One of his best scenes is when his wife refuses to dance with him, so he dances by himself. Another occurs when, as a boy scout troop leader, he is asked to continue with the deer-tracking techniques he was teaching before leaving town. Of course, he has no memory of any such thing and, as a reporter follows him, he falls into holes, crawls around the brush, and gets stuck in a couple of traps.

The pairing of Powell and Loy is magical. She looks particularly beautiful in this film and her confusion regarding her changed husband and sadness over her marriage is quite touching.

Highly recommended.

Secret Sharer

[Leo-86 · 9/10 · 13 May 1999]

William Powell plays both George Carey and Larry Wilson, and Myrna Loy is his wife Kay in this wonderful, deft, entertaining screwball comedy directed by Woody Van Dyke III...."Hey, this is kinda funny. We're not talking about you but a lug named Wilson, and you're both fellas." The words are those of Doc Ryan, George Carey's pal. George, you see, has had amnesia for nine years, and during that time he became Larry Wilson, a pompous businessman....Enter Larry's charming wife Kay. George learns that Kay is eager to divorce Larry because of his miserable, suffocatingly materialistic ways; and when meets Kay, whom he has forgotten, he falls for her and sets out to reclaim her love....The film's defining moment surprises us with its tenderness. Standing in contrast to the film's madcap goings-on, it takes place when George escorts Kay, who thinks he's Larry, to the spot where years before he proposed to her as Larry. The scene precisely captures the distinctive and wonderful chemistry between Powell and Loy, who went on to make ten more pictures together....Like his two most famous characters (Godfrey of MY MAN GODFREY and Nick Charles of THE THIN MAN), Powell's George Carey emerges as a humane individual with the common touch. In fact, he becomes a hero, saving the townsfolk of quaint Haversville from a criminal scam perpetuated by a big city gangster named Duke Sheldon.

A little amnesia goes a long way

[SimonJack · 10/10 · 4 March 2015]

William Powell and Myrna Loy made 14 movies together from 1934 to 1947. The only other pairing of couples in film history that is longer is Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, with 29 films. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn made nine films together, six of which were comedies. A couple Powell-Loy films were dramas. Ten of them were comedies, including the Thin Man series. Other couples have had very good matches for comedies over the years, but Powell and Loy gave us more laughs than any other duo.

"I Love You Again" is one of the few movies in which Powell really had to pursue Loy. That's because he had amnesia, and had to start life all over again - a third time. We don't see him in his first life before his amnesia. He plays a hardened criminal turned cold and dull task-master, turned starry-eyed smitten crook who wants to reform for love.

Powell plays Larry Wilson (aka, George Carey), Loy plays Kay Wilson, and Frank McHugh plays Doc Ryan. Nella Walker plays Kay's mother, a mother- in-law who likes her son-in-law (whomever he may be). Donald Douglas plays Herbert who has designs on Kay. Edmund Lowe plays a scam artist, Duke Sheldon, from Larry's (i.e., George Carey's) past. All of these and the rest of the cast give excellent performances.

This is a very funny film, with some riotously funny scenes. In the beginning, Powell's Larry Wilson is aboard a ship returning to the U.S. from Europe. He seems chomping at the bit to get out of his Larry Wilson character. He's a real hoot as the penny-pinching, juice-drinking bore who thinks everyone should experience the quality of people and life in Habersville. After a tipsy Ryan falls overboard, Larry tosses him a lifesaver and is knocked into the brink himself. Shouts of "Man overboard" brings the ship to a stop and the crew rows out to rescue the drunk and Larry, whom the passengers think jumped in to save Ryan. The tipsy Ryan appears to be saving Larry in the water, who appears not able to swim. As the lifeboat approaches, an oarsman drops an oar that conks Larry on the head. When he comes to in his cabin, a sober Ryan is beside him, saying that Larry saved his life. Only Larry isn't Larry anymore. He's his real self, George Carey, and the time is 10 years earlier. Ryan and he eventually get straight what has happened, and after finding a checkbook in Larry's belongings with a huge balance in the bank, they decide that George should go on being Larry and they will make off with the dough.

That's when the hilarity picks up. And, George soon finds himself falling for the gal Larry married, Kay Wilson. Only now she wants a divorce. So, he sets out to try to win her heart, while still trying to figure a way to pull off a scam with Doc and Duke of some of the town's wealthy. Will George succeed in one or both? Will he go back to being George? Or, will he stay Larry for life - a new Larry? Well, one can guess the outcome. But, it's in the getting there that we have some wonderful entertainment again from Powell and Loy.

"I Love you Again" also has a best comedy subject on film. One of Larry Wilson's civic activities was leading a local boy's troop of scouts. Powell's antics in the scout hiking scenario make this the funniest scout outing ever filmed for a movie. One can't help but howl with laughter at one after another scenes in this segment alone.

Here are a few of my favorite lines from the film.

Larry to Herbert, "You're taking my wife. The least you could do is give me the Chamber of Commerce."

Kay to Larry, "You're not getting anywhere, and I wish you'd stop." Larry, "Stop not getting anywhere?" Kay, "No. Stop getting me mixed up. I want you to be your old self. You're old stuffy, speech-making, pompous old self."

Larry is leading his junior rangers troop and a neighboring leader is monitoring his methods in the wild. When the visitor asks him why he laid deer tracks the way he did, he replies, "Elementary deer psychology." His trip in the woods is a real hoot.

Larry is going to Duke to call off the scam. Doc says, "Don't get him sore, Larry. I saw you fight once and, honest, you was awful."

Toward the end of the film, Larry knows he has cooed his way into Kay's heart when she lays it on the line. Kay, "Ever since you got off that boat, you've been chasing me like an amorous goat. You've tried your darnedest to make me fall in love with you and now you have. So, from now on I'm going to do the chasing, and believe me, brother, you're going to know you've been chased."

This is a wonderful film that the whole family should enjoy. The kids should like the antics, especially the trek into the woods with the junior rangers.

Amnesia theme brightens amusing comedy...

[Doylenf · 20 October 2003]

Seems to me that in the course of his career, WILLIAM POWELL has been in many a movie as an amnesia victim--but here, it's strictly for laughs. He and Myrna Loy (at her most attractive) are paired again as a romantic couple with their usual share of misunderstandings and shenanigans. It has the flavor of a Nick and Nora flick--without Astor.

The story is a series of misunderstandings and comic situations all set up by the fact that Powell is struggling to remember who he was--and meanwhile rediscovers his wife and loves her very much even though she is threatening to leave him. None of it makes much sense and all of it is played strictly for laughs and romantic charm.

Working with very thin material, Loy and Powell do it again. Proof that their box-office chemistry was no fluke. If you enjoy this one, try LOVE CRAZY with an even crazier approach to the amnesia angle and even more amusing.

Never trust an amnesiac

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 9 May 2004]

Hilariously entertaining tale of a man with double amnesia: a dull penny pincher on one hand, a thieving con artist on the other. After being conked on the noggin he revives to find he has spent the last nine years as someone he isn't and reverts to his former tricky self. His apple cart is upset when he discovers he is falling for the wife he picked up during the nine year blackout. A plan to bilk some of the locals over a phony oil deal doesn't appear so rosy once his thorny heart is pricked by love, which puts him in danger from a mean tempered associate intent on becoming rich. Fast paced and very funny film, well worth watching, especially Powell's zany character.

sophisticated comedy/romance with a SILLY plot device

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 22 March 2006]

I wonder if this might be the great granddaddy of all amnesia films. If it's not, it's sure one of the first and has inspired countless sitcom episodes. William Powell is bonked on the head and suddenly he's a completely different person--one who apparently disappeared nine years earlier. Who he was during the last nine years is uncertain, but what IS certain is that the new personality is a crook. When this shady guy figures out that during the last nine years he's become a pillar of the community and has access to gobs of other peoples' money, he wants to steal everything he can and run. The problem is, he discovers he has a wife (Loy) and can't bring himself to leave--even when he finds out she hates him. Well, much of the movie is spent trying to win her back, though he still wonders whether or not to rob his "friends". What he does and how the entire mess is resolved is brilliant and a lot of fun. This isn't wacky fun like his other film, LOVE CRAZY, but is a little more sophisticated and deliberately paced. A wonderful old film with excellent acting, writing (aside from the dumb plot device) and direction. One of Powell's and Loy's best.

William Powell, master of physical comedy

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 24 February 2020]

After a bright start, this slick MGM amnesia comedy loses some momentum. But William Powell is constantly funny, doing a lot more physical comedy than you might be accustomed to seeing from him - and doing it very well. Myrna Loy looks gorgeous in a variety of fabulous costumes, but is mostly relegated to the "straight woman" role; Frank McHugh is Powell's real comic partner in this one. **1/2 out of 4.

One of the best and most delightful Powell and Loy confections

[robert-temple-1 · 10/10 · 2 February 2010]

William Powell and Myrna Loy! A pure recipe for alchemical gold, and nowhere better seen outside of the 'Thin Man' series than here. This is a better film than LOVE CRAZY which they made the following year. This is a truly hilarious film, with a wonderful script and first rate gag lines, with plenty of opportunities for laughing out loud. The story itself is, or at least seems, flimsy and nonsensical. William Powell was hit on the head nine years earlier and has had amnesia. Having previously been a con man, he has along with the amnesia experienced a total personality change. He has settled down and become a respectable citizen of Habsberg, Pennsylvania, where he is a pillar of the community, the head of the Boy Scouts, and a member of the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, and all those worthy bodies. He manages a pottery. He never touches alcohol, his hobby is taxidermy, and he even keeps a stuffed squirrel by his bedside which he stuffed himself. He is also pathologically mean with money and counts every penny obsessively. In other words, he has become a super-bore, and his attractive wife Myrna Loy can't stand being ignored anymore and has filed for divorce from this most disappointing, annoying, and unsexy husband. At this point he is hit on the head again and reverts to being his previous mischievous self, whom Loy had never known. This leads to all sorts of comedic escapades and because he now finds Myrna Loy irresistible, Powell sets about wooing her afresh as his new/old self (hence the title of the film). The strange thing is that there are documented cases in the annals of psychology of this sort of amnesia-associated personality change taking place, and also of the reverting back. It is rare and extreme condition, but it does happen. It is known as a dissociated fugue-state. (See my review of HOME AT SEVEN with Ralph Richardson where I discuss this psychological issue further.) The general public will just accept all this as 'a bit of hokum', not being aware that such things have actually happened from time to time. However, this is no time to be serious. This film is intended as pure fun. It works because of the magical sparkle between Powell and Loy, which chiefly owes its magic to Powell's remarkable and humorous personality and the unique response to it which seems to have emerged spontaneously from Myrna Loy from the moment they met. Theirs was a cinematic matching made in heaven. The two of them together really are so amazing that one ceases to pay any attention to what the film is about, and one just watches, mesmerized, as they interact with one another. They could be sitting and knitting or reciting the telephone book and it would barely matter. In this film, Myrna Loy finds 'the man she always thought was hidden inside' her husband and 'loves him again'. However, he then is hit on the head again. And I won't ruin anything by saying what happens next. One of my little hobbies is imitating the cooing of doves. I had not realized that William Powell was there before me, but then I must not reveal too much about what he is cooing about, as it might not make it past the Hays Office.

Loy and Powell - Coo

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 3 August 2014]

William Powell (Larry/George) gets a clonk on the head and gets amnesia. He forgets the last 9 years of his life. Actually, he is reverting to the person that he originally was (George) – apparently he had received another clonk on the head 9 years previously that had turned him into the ghastly upstanding citizen (Larry). Anyway, he has to pretend to be Larry in order to live as George, for George was a crook, and he now sees a way to swindle some money out of his life as Larry. However, one thing stands in his way – Myrna Loy (Kay).

This film has funny moments and a good cast, and even Frank McHugh (Doc) is funny as Powell's sidekick. I usually find sidekicks take on more of an annoying than amusing role. Not here, though, the sidekick is likable. The film has a section with some boy scouts where it loses momentum, but apart from this, it entertains. Powell and Loy work well together in both the comedy sections and, more uniquely, in that moment when they are required to convey their love for one another. It is totally believable and naturally acted.

This film does send out the very important message that good guys are boring. You should dance with yourself, have a drink every 15 minutes and for goodness sake don't waste your time with do-good extra-curricular activities.

IF ONLY THEY WERE MY PARENTS...!

[masonfisk · 8/10 · 5 December 2018]

William Powell & Myrna Loy team up in a non-Thin Man romantic comedy involving amnesia & oil schemes set in a Pennsylvania town. Powell, returning from a holiday cruise, tries to rescue a drunk who's fallen overboard & finds he's lost his memory after someone conks him over the noggin w/an oar. That in his past life he was a drinking cheat & conman while in the present is a paragon of a clean life adds much mirth to his situation when he finds he needs to convince his wife (who has a new beau in her life & is demanding a divorce) to re-fall in love w/him. Zany, inspired & handled w/the same verve he brought to 4 Thin Man pictures, W.S. Van Dyke II (who would tragically commit suicide 3 years later) worked wonders w/this pair of actors. Look for Alfafa from the Little Rascals in a small part as a cub scout. Sublime.

Powell and Loy Headline Another Success

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 12 March 2014]

The premise for I Love You Again is that William Powell used to be a con man, but something happened to him nine years ago that caused amnesia and he started over in life, becoming a successful businessman who was unimaginative, cheap and uncaring. As our story starts, he is on a transatlantic crossing and is struck on the head, causing him to regain knowledge of his original persona, the chiseler.

When he arrives stateside, he tries to insinuate himself into his old life. He discovers he has a wife. He finds that he has wealth at his disposal. As the shadowy character he now is, he decides to steal from himself. And he cases his own joint. He also wants to use his reputation as a trustworthy, conservative businessperson to defraud some townsfolk.

His problem is that his wife plans to divorce him, but he finds her desirable. Myrna Loy is luminous as the wife who is surprised by her husband's behavior. She spurns him at every turn, but perhaps love can find a way.

ILYA has some funny bits--like the scene where he takes his wife shopping. And the scene where he leads a group of "Junior Rangers" on a trek through the woods. Watch for Our Gang's Alfalfa and Robert Blake as scouts.

This lighthearted comedy, despite the convoluted story, is easy to follow and lots of fun.

Not enough Loy

[gbill-74877 · 5/10 · 25 November 2018]

William Powell and Myrna Loy are fantastic, but this isn't one of their better films. It's interesting to see Powell play a milquetoast character and he does well, but there's not nearly enough of Loy, and the film only gives us a pale reflection of their legendary chemistry. I don't mind the silliness of the plot so much, but there's just not enough sharp wit or charm. It's harmless enough though.

some fun with Powell and Loy

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 15 October 2019]

It's 1940 on a trans-Atlantic ship. Stodgy cheapskate businessman Larry Wilson (William Powell) falls off the boat while trying to rescue drunken Doc Ryan (Frank McHugh) going overboard. He wakes up and remembers only up to 1931. He's actually a con man named George Carey. Arriving in New York, he's met by his wife Kay (Myrna Loy) who wants a divorce to marry another man. He sees an opportunity to steal with his new found con partner Doc pretending to be his real doctor. Most of the money turns out to be locked away in a community chest account.

The pairing of Powell and Loy strikes again. Their chemistry is as good as ever despite the change in premise. The quirky premise has loads of fun. It does get a bit muddy. It needs a flashback scene in 1931 when he first transformed. Overall, this is a good piece of screwball comedy. It would be nice to have a bit more physical farce to match the premise.

Hilarious

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 9 May 2004]

William Powell gets knocked on the head during an ocean cruise. It seems he's had amnesia for the past nine years and was a penny-pinching, thoroughly unlikable man married to Myrna Loy. Now that he's become his real self (which is strong and masculine) he falls in love with Loy. But she's planning to divorce him...so he has to win her all over again. And deal with his past as a gangster.

Very funny movie. Fast-moving, well-directed and acted...but it's all because of Loy and Powell. Those two were absolutely incredible on-screen--they played off each other brilliantly and their quick, non-stop dialogue and one-liners were just fantastic. I prefer this one over the "Thin Man" series they did--in the "Thin Man" they were always drinking and it was played for laughs!!! This one doesn't have that. Unfortunately it also doesn't have that adorable dog Asta.

Still, this quick and lots of fun. An excellent Hollywood comedy that (strangely) is almost forgotten today. Well worth seeing.

Myrna copes with two Bills.

[st-shot · 7/10 · 22 August 2022]

William Powell and Myrna Loy take a break in between playing the sleuthing Charles to pair up as partners at odds with each other in I Love You Again. A mildly funny screwball, the Powell, Loy chemistry as usual a perfect blend.

Dullard Larry Wilson (Powell) gets into a shipboard argument with Doc Ryan (Frank McHugh) that has them both overboard after an argument. Wilson bangs his head during the rescue and suddenly recovers from an amnesia of 9 years earlier in which he is the complete opposite of the cheap skate; a con man. Luckily for him, so is Doc and they plan to fleece the town once he gets home to his wife (Loy) whose fed up with his skinflint ways. As a slick con man he sees her differently and wants to remain married but also boondoggle the town as well.

The matchless pair once again excel with Loy expressing more criticism and annoyance with the dual personality Wilson, showing far more exasperation than tolerance as she does with Nick. Powell, more sober and conniving than his private eye transitions hilariously from conformist to con man along with a couple of sly slapstick moments.

Director WS Van Dyke, in Lubitsch and Sturgis "screwball" territory, more than holds his own with them much in part to his working relationship and confidence in his regulars along with a brisk shooting style that would seem ideal for the fast paced world of screwball comedy. There are some lapses in scenes in which only one of the pair is present (a boy scout field trip, a con job cabal) but the combo never misses a beat.

THIS MOVIE KICKS! POWELL & LOY ARE FAB!

[silenceisgolden · 10/10 · 16 July 2001]

I highly recommend this film. It's funny , very funny and like the tagline of the film says, YOU WILL L-A-U-G-H!!!! Powell & Loy make a great team, that is why they went on to make 14 films together, they have wonderful screen chemistry. Powell is one of my favorite actors and he's just so good in everything he's in whether it be comedy or drama, but I have to admit I love him in comedies more than anything. Highlight of this film : The "cooing" moments! *pees* Also when Powell dances alone! Check it out! If it doesn't make you laugh you're dead! ;-)

William Powell-Myrna Loy and director W.S. Van Dyke successful together again

[jacobs-greenwood · 7/10 · 4 December 2016]

This is a very funny film, definitely worth watching. It not only stars the great comedy duo from the Thin Man series, William Powell and Myrna Loy, but also features Frank McHugh. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke (who directed the pair in The Thin Man (1934)), this comedy drama's screenplay was written by Charles Lederer, George Oppenheimer, and Harry Kurnitz; Leon Gordon and Maurine Watkins's story was based on Octavus Roy Cohen's novel.

Powell was a dashing con man that was bumped on the head such that he'd forgotten who he was and had become a boring clay pot manufacturer in a small town, married to Loy. However, the film opens with Powell on a cruise ship who, having just rescued con man McHugh, now remembers his previous life but not his current one. Finding that the person he'd been is actually worth something (e.g. has money in the bank), Powell, with help from the enabling McHugh, determines to "steal" his own money and hit the road.

However, when the cruise ship docks, Powell's character is met by an attractive woman (Loy) that he finds out is his wife, though she's seeking a divorce from the boring man he was, to marry another, Herbert (Donald Douglas). Intrigued, Powell decides to return to the small town, with McHugh in tow, to learn more.

Of course, there are a series of hilarious misadventures, as Powell romantically pursues his own disillusioned wife Loy, causing her to see a side of her husband that she'd never seen before, which interests her. But, a former con man associate of Powell's, Duke Sheldon (Edmund Lowe) shows up, convinced there must be a bundle to be schemed from the town folk, and threatens to disrupt things.

Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer appears as a boy scout in Powell's small town character's troop; Charles Halton (uncredited) plays his dad. Harlan Briggs, Henry Hayden & Jason Robards Sr. appear uncredited as well.

Powell + Loy = Perfect

[seanmoliver64 · 10/10 · 20 December 2021]

I'm not usually a big fan of Rom Coms/Screwballs but this one is notable for its absurd amnesia premise, its satire of small-town America, and Powell's scheme to take the money and run. But most of all it's a perfect setup for Loy + Powell to work their charm as a couple, perhaps the most successful and consistently entertaining onscreen chemistry ever, some 14 (?) films.

Myrna Loy could bring the comedy out of her characters with such understatement, it could be eaasily missed. (See her in 'Mr Blandings...') She is especially brilliant here. When she tries to fight off Powell's adorably goofy advances ('coo...coo!') but can't resist him any longer, her conflicted and bewildered reactions are perfectly expressed and very, very funny.

Fun-filled Comedy

[harry-76 · 21 October 2003]

What's it about Powell and Loy that's makes for so perfect a screen match?

For one thing, they look like they're having such a good time, playing off one another's deft personality quirks.

What one leaves unsaid, the other speaks up and answers. When one "teeters," the other "totters." It's like watching a subtle game of chess with upbeat tempo.

As Nora and Nick Charles in "The Thin Man" series, they were unsurpassed; yet equally as good in other films, like "I Love You Again."

In this clever little comedy, Powell's given most of the pratfalls, while Loy's more the "straight," which she handles with her usual charm and skill.

About the only weak thing here may be its all-too-generic, forgettable title. Otherwise, it's a film full of laughs, and another bull's eye for one of the screen's all-time "duo champs."

Stars Outshine Script

[kenjha · 7/10 · 15 December 2007]

Powell and Loy starred in 14 films. Although this is not one of their better efforts, their charm and chemistry makes it worthwhile. Powell is a shady fellow who snaps out of a nine-year amnesia spell to discover that he has become a shrewd businessman and a pillar of the community during this time except that wife Loy is about to divorce him because he's too dull. The premise sounds better than the execution. The bit where Powell goes into the woods with the boy scouts is not very amusing and is too drawn out, causing the film to lose momentum. Van Dyke is reunited with Powell and Loy, whom he directed in several of the "Thin Man" films.

...A comedy I can watch again and again and again...

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 16 November 2016]

You don't need to have amnesia to find something new every time you see this outstanding film that came at the height of screwball comedy era. It was released during one of the great years with classic gems such as "The Philadelphia Story", "His Girl Friday" and "My Favorite Wife" released the exact same year.

William Powell portrays a boring business man who happens to get amnesia while away on business and when he returns home believing that he is grifter, discovers that he is married to the beautiful Myrna Loy, as well as the owner of one of the town's biggest businesses and the leader of a local boy scout troop. She's on the verge of getting a divorce from him and wants to marry Edmund Lowe, and instantly in love with her, tries to prevent her from going forward with her plans.

It's obvious from the start who she has the chemistry with, and pretty soon she's perplexed by his change in attitude, his willingness to spend money on her, as well as her confusion over her changing feelings. She makes a decision to try to get to know him all over again.

Practically perfect from start to finish, this isn't bogged down by a variety of subplots, including one where oil is discovered on land he owns and the attempt of various townspeople and strangers to con him into selling the property. The supporting cast includes Powell's co- stsr Frank McHugh from the 1932 classic "One Way Passage", once again playing another con-man, Nella Walker as his imperious mother, and "Alfalfa" in a tiny role as a member of one of the local scout troops.

Among the comic highlights are Powell's impetuous decision to dance alone, his attempt to lead scouts on a merit badge hike, and the many attempts to woo Loy with bird calls. Once again directed by W.S. Van Dyke (who directed them in many classics), this isn't the remembered masterpiece that it deserves to be, but that makes this an instant sleeper that new fans can discover deliciously on their own.

Poorly Conceived Tale Though Tidbits For Powell And Loy Fans

[iamyuno2 · 6/10 · 14 March 2014]

The whole premise of this movie rings false, on so many levels. I don't want to be a spoiler so I will just say that the reason to see this movie is not for its story line, which is preposterous and fails to show the splendid Myrna Loy in the best light. William Powell, one of my very favorite actors, manages to shine at turns - even turning in his funniest scene ever (the one where he get on the dance floor himself) - and so he makes this tedious movie bearable and even enjoyable at times. But it is only for his charm and wit that this film is saved on any level. Poor Myrna Loy spends the bulk of the time grimacing in an unattractive way - but she is the victim of a script that was so poor it was borderline amateurish, high schoolish. Her talents were wasted. The fact that Powell could make this film at all worth watching is a testament to his great talent. This movie is only for Powell fans.

Get Back to the Thin Man- Love You Again A Clinker **

[edwagreen · 3/10 · 21 March 2006]

William Powell and Myrna Loy, a great movie team starred in this 1940 farce about a man who gets clobbered by accident at sea and reverts back to a former life.

William Powell gets clunked and so do we as we have to watch this nonsense.

Frank McHugh is in this too and he is great in his drunkard scene, but once Powell tries to save him and gets hit, McHugh becomes his partner in crime as they together with another person shall try to bilk the town of a lot of money.

There is also Powell marching with a group of boy scouts in the woods. I thought he'd get clunked again there and go back to his previous ways. This didn't happen there but he gets hit by the partner when love conquers all and he decides to quit the scheme when he falls back in love with Loy.

Bring back those Thin Man mysteries. Asta, too.