Twice Blessed (1945) User Reviews

Enjoyable 40s teen film with great Lindy Hop sequences!

[donofthedial · 7/10 · 9 December 2006]

Fun film a la THE PARENT TRAP.

It's strong point is that it features 3 or more excellent Lindy Hop aka Jitterbug dance sequences done to big band Swing music by some of the best dancers around at the time.

Jean Porter, alive and reasonable still at this writing, also had a nice Lindy sequence in TIL THE END OF TIME with Guy Madison.

The Wilde Twins had a short career over at Metro.

Jimmy Lydon was starring in the HENRY ALDRITCH series over at Paramount.

Nice little MGM 'B" picture.

The director, Harry Beaumont, had been directing MGM films since the silent era.

Going Wilde

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 4 July 2013]

Arriving via American Airlines in Florida, child psychologist Gail Patrick (as Mary Hale) has a frosty meeting with local feature editor Preston Foster (as Jeff Turner). It turns out they divorced seven years ago. Strangely, the court divided the pair's twin girls. Mother received the cultured Lyn Wilde (as Stephanie Hale) and father brought up jitterbugging Lee Wilde (as Terry Turner). Intrigued by their opposite lifestyles, the young women change identities. This means fooling boyfriends Marshall Thompson (as Jimmy) and Jimmy Lydon (as Mickey). Wondering if the parents get back together is unexciting, but the dance sequences are fun. Near the end, the Wilde twins appear as "black-faced" hotel maids...

***** Twice Blessed (5/31/45) Harry Beaumont ~ Lee Wilde, Lyn Wilde, Marshall Thompson, Jimmy Lydon

Interesting variation of Parent Trap plot, with none of it's charm.

[rebekahrox · 6/10 · 2 June 2019]

The appeal for this movie is it's similarities and differences from Parent Trap. In this case the twins know each other and their non-custodial parents even though they rarely see them. So we miss the emotional epiphanies when the two discover each others existence. In this movie, the mother is an uptight famous child psychologist engaged to a Senator. The dad is scruffy newspaper man. the twins are 16 or 17 years old when the movie starts, so teen romance does play a large part of the plot. Mom's daughter is a conservative intellectual genius, Dad's is a dumb blonde and a jitterbug queen. Hilarity insues when they decide on impulse to change places. Sounds pretty good, right? It would have been very good indeed had this movie had the great stars and performances (and charm) of either the Hayley Mills led project or the Lindsey Lohan vehicle. But no. All of the players are pretty pedestrian, and so is this movie. Oh well, glad I saw it anyway. Can't believe I was unaware of this until I saw it listed on TCM. I'm a huge Hayley Mills fan.

Sort of like "The Parent Trap" but with two actresses instead of one.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 24 September 2022]

As you watch "Twice Blessed", it's obvious that this film was later remade as "The Parent Trap" by Disney. However, if you check the IMDB pages for each film, they claim to be written by different writers...which is odd since the Disney film clearly wasn't just inspired by "Twice Blessed"...it is, essentially, the same film with one major difference. Instead of using one actress to play both twin sisters, in this original actual twins, Lyn and Lee Wilde, play twin sisters.

Jeff and Mary (Preston Foster and Gail Patrick) are godawful parents. After they divorced, they separated their twins...with Jeff taking one and Mary taking the other! While the girls get to spend a little time together, they essentially live separate lives because the parents are jerks. On a lark, the girls agree to switch places without telling their parents...and both have difficulty adjusting to their sister's very different lives. Goofiness ensues. At the same time, their parents start reassessing their divorce.

While you'd THINK both sisters would be very similar because they are identical, oddly in this film they are totally different...with one being a swing-loving teen and the other being a super brainiac. Oddly, the brainiac needs glasses...the other doesn't! To me, this is a weakness of the plot and makes the switch seem a bit silly. Another weakness is the unlikability of the parents and the father's very nasty girlfriend, Alice. Overall, an interesting plot due to its obvious connection to the Disney films but one that really makes little sense when you think about it...something you could also say about the Disney ones as well.

Fun premise of twins' identity switch runs out of gas by film's end

[Turfseer · 5/10 · 7 February 2023]

Twice Blessed is an interesting film as it gives us a peek at what the US was like toward the end of World War 2. With a clever premise, it's entertaining for a while until it eventually runs out of gas.

Twin teenage sisters Stephanie and Terry (played by real life 22 year old twins Lyn and Lee Wilde) are as different as night and day. Following the divorce of their parents Jeff Turner (Preston Foster) and Mary Hale (Gail Patrick) 7 years earlier, each went to live separately with the estranged parents.

Mary is a nationally known child psychology expert and raised Stephanie to become a shy but brilliant academically over-achieving student. In contrast, down to earth newspaperman Jeff raised Terry to become an impulsive and rambunctious teenager well versed in dancing the jitterbug.

The twins decide to switch identities as they miss each other's parent. Before the switch, Terry shows off her chops as a sensational jitterbug dancer. The comedy arrives when Stephanie ruins her and boyfriend Jimmy's (Marshall Thompson) chance at winning a big dance competition.

While angry with her, Jimmy is pleased to find that his girlfriend has a sensitive side after Stephanie dabs some tears following the dance competition debacle.

Stephanie's boyfriend Mickey (Jimmy Lydon) is also nonplussed when Terry ineptly attempts to ride a horse. But later he's surprised by his girlfriend's newfound spontaneity.

Meanwhile Jeff and Mary keep flirting with the idea that maybe they should get back together. Mary, however, seems committed to pursuing Senator Pringle (Richard Gaines) who aspires to pursuing higher political office.

Jeff must contend with his ex-girlfriend reporter co-worker Alice (Gloria Hope) who still has an interest in him.

There's more comedy from the identity switch when Stephanie, filling in for Terry, wins a national student competition. Less successful is the dance where all hell breaks loose and Alice photographs Terry getting arrested. It's Alice's plan to use the photographs to blackmail Jeff into getting married to her.

The rest of Twice Blessed is a silly sequence in which the twins (dressed in blackface) are aided by their friends in getting back Alice's photos and ensuring they're not printed in the papers.

Except for the climax which appears racist by today's standards, twins Lyn and Lee Wilde prove to have a great deal of talent in the acting and dance departments. Their careers were short-lived, retiring from the film business a few years later.

Gail Patrick does well as the stuffed shirt psychologist, but Preston Foster is a little too gregarious as the happy-go-lucky dad.

The reunification of the parents is a foregone conclusion and by the time that occurs, the fun from the twins' identity switch is all but over.

Twice Blessed is worth a peek for several mildly amusing scenes and seeing what the country was like before the war ended.

A Prefeminist "Parent Trap"

[BillRossVLogic · 8/10 · 27 November 2012]

Irecently recorded this from TCM. As an old comedy, it's quite good, and brief. The teenage dialogue of the day is a blast. However, the premise that the parents got divorced because he couldn't stay married to a "strong, glamorous, working woman" is archaic. When you hear speeches about the proper raising of children and a woman's "career" it's another era. There is a quiz on Radio! Old-fashioned music and dancing make it a treat. Yes, the casting of actual twins removes the technical issues associated with the 2 "Parent Traps", but these girls didn't go on to fame and/or (mis)fortune, like the subsequent actresses. I do miss the warm moment, in the newer films, when the girls first realize they're sisters. On the other hand, there is the SHOCKING moment near the end, when the twins disguise themselves as hotel maids in BLACKFACE!

don't like him

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 13 November 2023]

Stephanie (Lyn Wilde) and Terry (Lee Wilde) are identical twins who have been separated since their parents, Jeff Turner (Preston Foster) and Mary Hale (Gail Patrick), got divorced seven years earlier. Mary is a top assistant to a Senator and had raised Stephanie who became a brainy shy teen. Reporter Jeff's easy parenting style has made Terry a free-spirit party girl. The girls envy each other and decide to switch places.

I know times have changed. Jeff is still one angry petty man. It's not an appealing look. Other than for the kids, this couple is better off apart. I really don't want her going back to him. This is Parent Trap but the message is way different. The girls do have some fun adventures. Let's ignore the black face. Mostly, I don't like Him.

Judge this by 1945 standards

[tr-83495 · 10/10 · 30 May 2019]

There are several sequences that are offensive to the 21st century viewer, but remember the era and remember all of this was normal, and, at least, no group was ridiculed or put down.

The dance sequences alone are so "precious" (meaning unique and interesting) that to have them on film is a joy. The teenage language and the parents' fight against juvenile delinquency shows this started in the mid-40s and not in the 50s as is common belief. James Dean, the "bad" boy, is considered a juvenile delinquent, and we've all seen the anti-reefer films that promised communism if we inhaled.

But this is the swinging 40s, an era our parents said was tame and in which there was no such thing as juvenile delinquency. The 40s. to them, was nirvana. It was Elvis and the evil 50s that brought in juvenile delinquency and the society-rotting influence of the communist-inspired rock and roll. How many of us were punished for listening to Bobby Vee and Lesley Gore?

The 40s youth culture is a sight to behold and this film plants it into its eternal position. There are a multitude of adult swing movies from this era, but few teenage movies. This one is a "gas", pardon my euphemism, as is worth seeing.

Can't wait till it's available!

[vintage_jewell · 10/10 · 8 December 2000]

This is one of my favorite movies! The cast, plot and the dancing (especially the dance contest scene), are all wonderful! The twins are so cute! I hope it is released on video sometime in the near future. My grandma is another fan of "Twice Blessed". She saw it in the theater in 1945, but that was 34 years before I was born.

Saw it in 1945 when I was 11 and still remember it and would like to see again.

[jfw · 8/10 · 25 February 2000]

To my mind, this is the best version of Kaestner's Das Doppelte Lottchen (The two Lottchens), much superior to "The Parent Trap" primarily because it uses real twins rather than one person in a double role. I would like to see this film rereleased on video.

It cannot be denied, our grandparents were way cooler than we are now.

[rlymzv · 10/10 · 7 September 2020]

It cannot be denied, our grandparents were way cooler than we are now.

Another reviewer found something offensive in this movie. I have no idea what that might be, I guess I'm just not woke enough.

Identical twin sisters, raised separately, switch places and help reunite their divorced parents. Sounds like THE PARENT TRAP (1961), right? It turns out MGM used a rather similar plot in TWICE BLESSED, an engaging "B" film of the mid '40s. Unlike the Disney film, no special effects were required, thanks to identical twin actresses Lyn and Lee Wilde.

The Wilde Twins are real talents, adept comediennes who are also skilled dancers. The Wilde Twins married brothers who were musicians.

Today, most people just sit in front of there iPhone for entertainment, not in 1945. People went places, and did things. What a fun and entertaining movie this is.

This is a delightful little movie with a terrific cast. Those girls sure had energy! Loved the 40s slang and that malt shop.

Happy to have this DVD in my 3000 DVD/Blu-ray collection where I know it cannot be banned or censored.

I was a teenage matchmaker. I was too!

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 14 April 2024]

Screen teenagers have often been typecast as monsters, whether the real kind, or just annoying brats. In the case of these two, however, the script has allowed them to just be regular teen girls different in every way except looks (although one wears glasses), and viewers who don't like teenagers will be surprised to find that these two (Lee and Lynne Wilde) are actually a.o.k.

The script is quite witty with one of the girls a bookworm, devoted to her studies, and the other a real hepkat. Lee, who's remained with her father (Preston Foster), speaks in jive rhythms to her friends at the the soda shop, while Lynne has remained studious because of her politician mother's strictness. Gail Patrick is the very serious ex-Mrs. Preston Foster, now engaged to senator Richard Gaines.

So unlike "The Parent Trap", the two girls know of their existence and probably haven't seen each other in seven years. However Patrick's decided to raise Lynne with her maiden name. No surprising that the two girls even with their differences decide that they're going to reconcile mom and dad by switching places. But how are they going to explain their sudden personality differences? By studying each other and learning how to emulate the other which is amusing when their real personality pops out.

I didn't think I'd like this one so much because teenagers of the forties outside of Mickey and Judy tend to be rather cliched. MGM pulled out all the stops in giving the Wilde sisters a big buildup, But outside of their earlier Andy Hardy film, they didn't do much on the big screen and this were their last leading roles. Perhaps the girls were just too normal and ended up living long lives out of show business, yet maintaining their interest when the nostalgia craze brought lots of forgotten performers back. This makes their own story a true happy ending, enhanced by the one film that is way above average.