Irene Dunne is the (young) widowed mayor of a small town. Her late husband (also mayor) was so popular they erected a statue to him. When a lightning bolt blasts the statue's head off, Dunne goes to the big city to hire a sculptor to do a second statue. The sculptor is played by Charles Boyer. And her life begins to get bizarre.
Which is fine for a local newspaper magnate eager to bring her and her family down. So what else is new?
Dunne has some very funny reactions, first as she fears Boyer, then as she fights her burgeoning feelings for him. And as she wonders if a statuesque young woman intends to strut around Boyer's rooms in the altogether.
The comedy is helped along by a very young Mona Freeman, playing Dunne's step-daughter. Freeman is assured in her role, which is to be practically hysterical. She's just wonderful.
Unlike so many movies of this kind "Together Again" has some laugh-out-loud moments. Most of them are clustered in the first and last half-hours.
Unfortunately, after the first hour the movie (which has always been talky) gets too talky. But complications between the characters ensue that maintain our interest.
It's better written than many "screwball" comedies of an earlier period, where characters talked fast so we didn't have time to process what they were rattling on about. And, once again, Boyer and, more especially Dunne, prove the can carry comedy as well as drama.
Besides kudos for Mona Freeman, the great Charles Coburn needs to be singled out for praise. Not only is he funny, he's the linchpin. He and Freeman make "Together Again" worth watching if nothing else does.
Also, the music needs to be mentioned. Not the song that runs through it, but the musical cues. Music in movies is either to be barely noticeable; or it's supposed to dictate how we feel when the writers and actors haven't got there. Some of the stray musical cues do stand out as very funny, without being overly intrusive.
With more judicious cutting during the slower parts I might have given it 10 out of 10. Too bad. But when the talkers are Boyer, Dunne, Coburn and Mona Freeman, it's not so horrible.
Which is fine for a local newspaper magnate eager to bring her and her family down. So what else is new?
Dunne has some very funny reactions, first as she fears Boyer, then as she fights her burgeoning feelings for him. And as she wonders if a statuesque young woman intends to strut around Boyer's rooms in the altogether.
The comedy is helped along by a very young Mona Freeman, playing Dunne's step-daughter. Freeman is assured in her role, which is to be practically hysterical. She's just wonderful.
Unlike so many movies of this kind "Together Again" has some laugh-out-loud moments. Most of them are clustered in the first and last half-hours.
Unfortunately, after the first hour the movie (which has always been talky) gets too talky. But complications between the characters ensue that maintain our interest.
It's better written than many "screwball" comedies of an earlier period, where characters talked fast so we didn't have time to process what they were rattling on about. And, once again, Boyer and, more especially Dunne, prove the can carry comedy as well as drama.
Besides kudos for Mona Freeman, the great Charles Coburn needs to be singled out for praise. Not only is he funny, he's the linchpin. He and Freeman make "Together Again" worth watching if nothing else does.
Also, the music needs to be mentioned. Not the song that runs through it, but the musical cues. Music in movies is either to be barely noticeable; or it's supposed to dictate how we feel when the writers and actors haven't got there. Some of the stray musical cues do stand out as very funny, without being overly intrusive.
With more judicious cutting during the slower parts I might have given it 10 out of 10. Too bad. But when the talkers are Boyer, Dunne, Coburn and Mona Freeman, it's not so horrible.