It's Love Again

Calling all Jessie Matthews fans! If you don't know who she is, check out either It's Love Again or There Goes the Bride. She's absolutely adorable, like a 1930s version of Olivia Colman, and she sings and dances, too!

In this movie, Jessie tries and fails to make it as a chorus girl. Robert Young is a newspaper man in a rut, and to spice up his column, he invents a society dame named Mrs. Smythe-Smythe who's the toast of every nightclub and restaurant. Jessie seizes the opportunity and pretends to be Mrs. Smythe-Smythe. The premise sounds cute, but the actual plot isn't the best part of the story. Sure, you'll get to see a pre-How Green was My Valley Sara Allgood as Jessie's warm-hearted, Irish maid, and there are a few tricks to get away with the mistaken identity that will arouse a chuckle, but the best parts of this movie are the musical numbers.

Jessie Matthews gets to show off all her adorable talents, including a hilarious and seductive rumba, a solo tap dance in an extremely skimpy costume that could be argued is little more than a glorified fig leaf, and a performance in a skintight sequined bodysuit. She's very talented, and it's no wonder she was one of Britain's most delightful entertainers in the 1930s. As a bonus, you'll get to see, very briefly, Robert Young tap dancing, and you'll get to hear him singing a chorus of the title song alongside Jessie! He never gets to show off his musical talents, and since this movie came out the same year as Stowaway, it's a real treat to see them. Jessie is the star of the show, though, and she's just delightful.

Very fresh, even tho' made over 50 yrs ago.

Peter (Robert Young) and Freddie (Sonnie Hale) invent a celebrity, Mrs Smythe-Smythe, in order to fool the public and sell newspapers. Meanwhile, Elaine Bradford (Jessie Matthews) is looking for a chance to become a celebrity and seems to be getting nowhere with her audition for major theatre producer Raymond (Ernest Milton). So, she pretends to be Mrs Smythe-Smythe in order to get attention. Things go well at first but a rival reporter discovers the truth....

There are many humorous sections in this film, eg, the scene where Peter and Freddie decide on their celebrity, Raymond's exasperation with the theatre (I hate the theatre....I hate the people...). The cast are all good and Sonnie Hale is funny in most of his scenes. The film is Britsh and I was surprised at the quality of both the production and the comedy. It doesn't contain that stupid British humour of the time. It is actually quite funny!

But best of all, the film has Jessie Matthews singing and dancing. The songs are all fine but her dancing is great. She was easily up there with the best that Hollywood could provide at the time. Maybe she was THE best of her time. All the dances are good, my favourite being the sequence where she is trapped into giving a performance of a Hindu temple dance. She has no idea what she is supposed to do and starts somewhat hesitantly but then turns it into the most enjoyable solo tap dance sequence in any film that I can remember seeing. A joy to watch. I was pleasantly surprised by this film.

The name Jessie Matthews may not meant a great deal to current film goers, even to those who like old movies, but she was England's biggest musical star of the 1930's. She was a great dancer, a fine singer, a wonderful actress and scintillating personality. (Only personal troubles and changing tastes ushered in by the war prevented her from having a longer career.) It's Love Again, at a mid-point in her film career, provided her most memorable vehicle, except perhaps for the earlier film Evergreen, in which she established her screen persona as an aspiring musical star who resorts to some sort of trickery to achieve stardom. In this film she tries to get publicity for herself by impersonating a mysterious Indian woman who is actually a concoction of her society columnist boy-friend, played, surprisingly, by an engaging Robert Young. Also in the cast is her then-husband comedian Sonny Hale as well as his father Robert, and well-known character actress Athene Seyler. It's a peppy and thoroughly entertaining film. There is comedy, romance, good songs and musical numbers --- and Jessie wears some exotic and quite sexy costumes. All in all, though not for everyone's taste, it is a delight and quite different from --- and in many ways better than --- the musical films Hollywood had to offer at the time. And the talented Miss Matthews, with her bright eyes, toothy smile, enthusiasm, eccentricity, and Mayfair accent, is worth a look for those not familiar with her.

Maybe I am just a tough guy when it comes to reviewing and rating films, but I noticed that a lot of reviewers gave this film a score of 10. 10 is a score I'd associate with films like "Gone With the Wind", "The Godfather" and "Ben Hur"....not with a light and modestly enjoyable British musical. To give it a 10 seems a bit extreme to me.

Peter Carlton (Robert Young) is a gossip columnist with a problem...nothing to write about. So, he invents a celebrity, 'Mrs. Smythe-Smythe', a traveling adventurer who has done practically everything. When Elaine (Jessie Matthews) learns about this, she decides to pose as the adventurer and eventually romance ensues....following lots of song and dance numbers.

This is a very pleasant film made a bit better due to Matthews' cute persona. It's nothing you should rush out to see, but it is pleasant and proves that the British, too, could make charming musicals.