“Oh, I knew if you came here something would happen”
Together Again is an appropriate title for this film since it once again pairs Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Instead of being a romantic pair waiting months to be together they are complete opposites with not too much in common except that they each bring something out in the other.
Anne Crandall (Dunne) is mayor of a small Vermont town. Her husband Jonathan was mayor of the town before he died. Anne lives with her father-in-law and Jonathan’s daughter Diana from his first marriage. Mr. Crandall is always telling his daughter-in-law that she must go out and live her life he is tired of seeing her stuck in their small town.
Every year on the anniversary of Jonathan’s death Anne and Diana have a celebration in the town square where a statue of him stands. That night there is a storm with strong winds and rain and lightning and thunder. Lightning strikes the head of Jonathan’s statue knocking it off. Anne wants to just replace the head but Diana insists on a new statue. They find a French sculptor in New York named George Corday (Boyer)
When Anne gets to the studio George is asleep on a cot. She does not want to wake him so she goes to leave the studio when a lightning strike from the rain storm outside wakes him up. At first George thinks that Anne is a model he does not know that she is the mayor he has an appointment with. Anne gives him the pictures of Jonathan and he begins to ask all kinds of personal questions claiming that the information is for him to get to know the former mayor. Anne begins to get flustered but deep down she likes it.
George says that he can guess her weight just by her bone structure. He tells Anne that if he guesses her correct weight he gets to take her out to dinner. He guesses correctly and takes her out to dinner. Anne gets to know George more and she begins to like him. At dinner George spills Anne's drink all over her dress by accident. She goes into the ladies room and the bathroom attendant presses her dress. While in the bathroom there is a raid on the restaurant. Anne is in her flower hat and her slip. When the cops come in they think she is one of the dancers but she lies and tells them her name is Mrs. S. Borat Sosa (the name on a canister in George’s studio) and that she is the wife of a Latvian diplomat.
After Anne gets out of jail she rushes home never wanting to see George again. All the way home Anne is very gittery and nervous and her father-in-law points it out. Her nerves are further thrown out of whack when George shows up at her doorstep!! He tells her that since she left in a hurry he figured he would come and see her and to start on the statue. Anne is none too happy about him being there but Diana will not let him go and Mr. Crandall wants him to stay because he thinks the sculptor will be good for Anne. On top of her daughter and her father-in-law George has brought his P. Borat Sosa canister as blackmail.
Anne’s world that she is used to gets thrown for many loops with George in town. Mayor and sculptor fall in love but Diana and her friend Gilbert manage to complicate things. No worries though a new storm and lightning strike bring Anne and George back together.
Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer were just as fabulous together as they were in Love Affair. Boyer lives up to his French lover reputation as he woos Dunne. I liked seeing his little comedic side since I have only seen him in serious roles. Dunne is so fantastic at playing a nervous mess; she never goes overboard she is just perfect. In the restaurant raid scene when she is in only her slip, flower hat and fur she looks amazing. Dunne was forty-six at the time and she did not look her age one bit.
Charles Coburn as Mr. Crandall was very good. In one scene he gets drunk and tells the local paper about Anne’s escapade in New York. He tells the paper so Anne will leave the town and marry George. He walks in drunk with Anne’s flower hat on his head. He looks hilarious.
I do not even want to know who the actress was who played Diana because the character was so annoying and so was the actress. The character was an emotional mess, it was like the girl was going through some crazy hormonal changes and her emotions were all over the place and she had no idea how to handle them. The film could have really done without her.
Together Again is not a laugh out loud hysterical comedy. It is a cute comedy with some moments that will put a smile on your face. Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne were such great actors who worked so well together that they make up for the story being a little silly.
Together Again is definitely a film for all classic film fans to view. It is available on DVD in a collection entitled Icons of Screwball Comedy Vol. 2
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