I Love You Again (1940)

I Love You Again
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
Written by Charles Lederer et al based on the novel by Octavus Roy Cohen
1940/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] George Carey: [reacting to Kay’s beauty] Boy! Eighteen days alone on a boat is certainly a long time to be alone on a boat for eighteen days![/box]

William Powell and Myrna Loy are as captivating as ever and Powell has the opportunity to do some fairly amusing physical comedy.

Larry Wilson (Powell) is a tee-totaling stuffed shirt and civic booster who bores the pants off everyone including his wife Kay (Loy), who wants divorce.  He gets a knock on the head while rescuing a drunk Doc Ryan (Frank McHugh) from falling overboard.  The blow cures the amnesia Wilson has been experiencing for nine years.  It turns out he is really high-living con artist George Cary and he has no memory of his life as Wilson.  He discovers Wilson has a large bank account and beautiful wife and that the people of Wilson’s home town are greedy and gullible and heads there to work a con.  While he is at it, he tries to win back Kay with his new-found personality.  With Edmund Lowe as another con artist.

This was a clever, if somewhat confusing, premise.  Although it isn’t where I would turn first for a dose of Powell and Loy, there are some pretty funny bits.

Trailer