It's Love Again (1936) User Reviews (18)

It's good, but....all those 10s??

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 March 2020]

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.

The Indian Temple dance - Jessie Matthews style!

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 14 October 2010]

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.

Jessie Matthews is so cute!

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 16 April 2019]

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.

Jesse Matthews at Her Best!

[Kalaman · 6 May 2004]

"It's Love Again" is my second Jessie Matthews musical. After watching her previous merriment, "First a Girl"(1935), I wanted to see more of her work. And "It's Love Again" is every bit as spirited, frolicsome, and enthralling as that one. It is characterized by grand production values, lovely gracefully directed dancing numbers, and some agreeably enchanting songs - especially the title song, which for some reason I can't seem to forget, even though I've seen the film only once.

Ms. Matthews herself - a radiant, willowy, longed-legged radio soap star turned singer/dancer - is a joy to watch. The effortless way she dances, moves, or sings is quite astonishing, makes you wonder why she is little known. As in "First a Girl", "It's Love Again" features Matthews impersonating another persona, only to discover later her true self. Here, she is dancer, Elaine Bradford, who impersonates a mysterious, alluring British celebrity named Mrs. Smythe-Smythe who spends most her of time in India hunting tigers. Elaine jumps into the role in order to gain fame and impress the show biz manager Archie Raymond (Ernest Milton) of her true talents. The celebrity is concocted by Peter Carlton (Robert Young), a slack but fearless gossip columnist looking for a big break and falls in love with Elaine. Their romantic moments are marvelously sweet and endearing amidst the chaos of dancing and singing.

Victor Saville's direction has its occasionally polished slickness, with its penchant for large-scale, Busby Berkeley-like production numbers. The plot can get a bit tiresome as it proceeds - the constant obsession with Peter's invention Mrs. Smythe-Smythe is really trite and overdone. However, it doesn't get in the way of the glorious numbers and the charming rapport of Ms. Matthews and Mr. Young.

Though it scarcely turns up in some circles as far as I know - "It's Love Again" is worth seeking out if you haven't seen it already. Like so many of the best 30s musicals, you will ultimately be left with a feeling of utmost joy and ecstasy.

Create Your Own Celebrity

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 13 October 2011]

Gaumont-British brought over Robert Young from MGM across the pond to star with their great musical star Jessie Matthews. From where Young was situated he must have thought that Louis B. Mayer had cast him opposite Eleanor Powell.

Over in the United Kingdom Eleanor Powell would be closest equivalent to Jessie Matthews. She could sing and dance equally or better than Powell and had a winning personality that the British public took to their hearts. And she was a trouper, her career withstood a nasty divorce scandal where Sonnie Hale who was another of her co-stars in It's Love Again.

Young and Hale are a gossip writing columnist pair who are constantly being scooped. What to do but create their own celebrity whom they write is conveniently back in India, constantly on safari. She is a woman who is a combination of Annie Oakley and Pearl White who is free living aristocrat.

Matthews plays a young stage hopeful who steps into the part because after all the newspaper reports she's back in India. Afterward Matthews, Young, and Hale all find they have developed mutual need for each other.

It's Love Again has given me another opportunity to see and appreciate Jessie Matthews at the height of her fame as a star. She refused many offers to come to the states to do films, including an opportunity to co-star with Fred Astaire. Up to now I had only seen her in a supporting role in Tom Thumb.

Matthews sings and dances beautifully to a score written by Harry Woods. It's unfortunate she's not better known in the USA. Try to see this one as a great example of her appeal.

You Don't Say?

[boblipton · 6/10 · 11 March 2020]

Jessie Matthews can't get a dancing foot in the door of the West End, so she borrows the character of "Mrs. Smythe-Smythe", a made-up celebrity who's the property of gossip columnist Robert Young. Good thing he's in love with her.

This is one of those movies in which the plot is just a framework to hang musical numbers and jokes on. Jack will have his Jill, and so forth. The jokes are minimal, the dancing ranges from good to excellent, and Young, unlike other co-stars of Miss Matthews, does not seem to be afraid of her. Miss Matthews wears her unlikely costumes with an air of amused disbelief. The sets seem to have been designed by Alfred Junge by looking at MGM fantasia sets and saying "Let's make that bigger. And more spangles."

As a result I found myself distracted by the theater design in the final scenes. I found myself wondering about the people who paid for seats hard up against that runway, would have to turn around, look up, and still see nothing.

Miss Matthews had real talent, but the British film industry seemed to have no idea what to do with her, and loaded her down with ever more unlikely plots, leading men, set designers, costumes, and choreographers, thinking that was how to top the last one. This one works, although the engine sputters occasionally.

when newspapers were all the rage

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 9 April 2020]

British actress Jessie Matthews is "Elaine", trying to break into show biz. Meanwhile, the dashing Robert Young is Pete Carlton, who starts making things up for the newspaper ratings. he invents a foreign, famous, talented entertainer who wows every audience. when these two stories collide, wacky things start to happen. It's pretty good, although I could have done with less singing and tap dancing. the rumba about 33 minutes in had a fun syncopation going on... that was good stuff! and the usual amount of silliness and chasing around the mulberry bush, as grandma used to say. Young had worked with so many greats in the 1930s, 1940s, and of course, was Marcus Welby, MD. Co-stars Sonnie Hale, who was actually married to the star Jessie Matthews from 1931 to 1944. sadly, Hale died young in his 50s. Directed by Victor Saville... had started in the silents, and moved into talkies. he and Jessie Matthews worked together on six films. Story by Marion Dix, who had also worked on "Down to their Last Yacht", another fun comedy/adventure. it's all a bit of fun. even with all the tap dancing. and the sound and picture quality are in remarkably good shape, considering its almost 90 years old at this point.

Another Jessie Matthews Impersonation

[timothymcclenaghan · 10/10 · 29 September 2005]

Once again, Jessie Matthews's character is conducting an impersonation, this time of a fictional high-society adventurer, whose identity Matthews assumes in a scheme to get on the stage. The fictional woman is created by a society-column newspaperman, portrayed by American actor, Robert Young, who needs a notorious subject for his column in order to keep his job.

The plot develops as Young's character learns of the charade and conspires with Matthews's character to conduct exotic exploits for this fictional society personality, so that Matthews can get attention, and Young can keep his job as society editor.

The music of this film has the typical 1930s melodies and lyrics. None of the songs seem to have survived beyond their use in the film, although they are pleasant enough. Keeping in mind that Matthews was reportedly a popular and prolific recording artist in England, as much admired for her singing as for her dancing, she performs these songs with charm and personality.

Matthews performs a wide variety of dancing styles here. One comic bit stands out when Matthews's character is coerced into performing an Indian temple dance that she supposedly knows. Hesitatingly, she begins to fake it, but it soon turns into a swing music tap dance when the swing band jazzes up the music of the Indian folk musicians.

There is a nice, lavish production number toward the ending, in which Matthews wears the sequined body stocking, including high heel shoes. You might have seen a picture of her in this costume in books about movie musicals.

I have recently seen all six of the musical films starring Jessie Matthews. If you can only see one Jessie Matthews film, I would recommend this one, because her dancing ability really stands out here. She was appropriately nicknamed "The Dancing Divinity." This film can be obtained on VHS.

Delightful British musical

[stephander · 10/10 · 1 March 2007]

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.

Incomparable Jessie dances in that silver spangled cat suit!!!

[kidboots · 10/10 · 24 March 2009]

There was no female dancer who could compare to Jessie Matthews. She had a sparkling personality and her dancing was out of this world - she was not called the dancing divinity for nothing!!! She did not make many films and many of them were not wonderful but "Evergreen" (1934),"First a Girl" (1935) and "It's Love Again" (1936) are among the top musicals ever made. "It's Love Again" was the first British film to have it's premiere in New York at the Roxy, before the British opening. She was always being courted by Hollywood and the time would have been ideal after the American premiere of "It's Love Again". She was having marriage problems then and in hind sight going to the States could have given her a whole new career but at the time she was praised for her loyalty in staying in Britain. Definitely "It's Love Again" is, in my opinion, her best film. No expense was spared either in the musical numbers or in the importation of American leading man Robert Young.

Mr. Raymond (Ernest Milton) is desperate for a leading lady for his new show and Elaine Bradford (Jessie Matthews) a down on her luck chorus girl is eager to audition for him. For her first attempt she sings and dances to the lilting "It's Love Again" - she also makes the acquaintance of Peter Carlton (Robert Young) a reporter - they dance a soft shoe together. In the middle of her audition, an old flame of Raymond's arrives and between reminiscences of West End, he engages her for the shows leading lady - Elaine goes home determined to make a name for herself as she thinks that is the only way to succeed.

Carlton, along with his sidekick Freddie (Sonnie Hale, Jessie's husband at the time) is a reporter without a scoop!!! Freddie suggests they invent a fascinating, adventurous lady that only they can write about - Mrs. Smythe- Smythe!!! Elaine, still unemployed, decides to impersonate Mrs. Smythe-Smythe to get some publicity. She arrives at the Imperial Palace with Cyril Wells (Matthews occasional dancing partner). Together they dance "We Have Met Before" - Jessie looks splendid in a barely there silvery evening gown. She meets up with Peter and begs him to let her go on with her impersonation (they do a lovely "footsie" dance to "It's Love Again").

She is invited to an Eastern Bazaar ball where she has to improvise a Hindu dance - and she does!!! in an amazingly risqué costume made of glittering jewels and not much else, plus an elaborate head-dress!!! She dances to Roy Fox Band's "Tony's in Town" - she's wonderful!!! The evening ends with a shooting match between Elaine and a crusty old colonel. On the way home she sees Raymond and executes an impromptu dance to impress him - "Gotta Dance, Gotta Sing" is a light hearted, bouncy song that Jessie performs in a park. At the song's end all the passers by join in the chorus, including a couple of baritone bobbies!!! Raymond is impressed and promises to put her name up in lights - "Mrs Smythe- Smythe"!!! (Elaine had wanted to make it on her own).

She is starred in a spectacular musical "Safari" and the show stopping finale "I Nearly Let Love Go Slipping Through My Fingers" features that silver spangled cat suit - the outfit that shocked Michael Balcon and is always mentioned in articles about Jessie. The dance itself is amazing, as Elaine first sings the song, then dances with a chorus line, then does a dazzling dance with her partner Cyril. She is then exposed by a rival reporter as a fake but is determined to come back as Elaine Bradford. She is then seen in a montage of dances she has performed throughout the film and Raymond realises he had the right girl from the start.

Robb Wilton has an excellent role as Boys, the butler.

Highly, Highly Recommended.

Whimsical Little Comedy-Musical with Jessie Matthews

[jem132 · 23 June 2006]

I caught this recently on late-night television. It wasn't given a great review in my TV guide, but I was intrigued into watching it for I had never seen 30's British star Jessie Matthews in a film. Admittedly, I was also waiting up for the World Cup coverage (Go Socceroos, go!) to begin on a different channel. So I killed time and watched 'It's Love Aagain'.

And I enjoyed it.

It has a very light, flimsy plot and little unique visual style. Those are the downers...but then, did the Astaire-Rogers 30's musicals have amazing story lines and incredible camera-work? No. This is a cheery comedy-musical designed to make audiences feel good about themselves and life, and it works on that level. Some of the acting is rather poor at times, but that doesn't detract from the star, the 'Dancing Divinity' Jessie Matthews.

From seeing her in this, I think that she was a very talented lady. She is an appealing, though not great, actress and a wonderfully capable and accomplished dancer-singer. She lights up the screen in every scene she is in and she works well with her male love interest, Robert Young. I've seen a lot of Young's work lately (courtesy of late-night television) and I am beginning to really like him. A reliable, underrated leading man.

It looks very lavish for a Post-Great Depression film set in London. Matthews is charming, the musical numbers are fun, and you'll forget your troubles for a brief time.

Worthwhile.

A superb movie!

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 7 November 2017]

Copyright 30 August 1936 by Gaumont British Picture Corporation of America. New York opening at the Roxy: 22 May 1936. U.S. release: 12 May 1936. U.K. release through Gaumont-British: May 1936. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 26 August 1936. 9 reels. 83 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: An aspiring singer/dancer cashes in on the publicity generated in a newspaper gossip column about a big-game hunter, Mrs Smythe-Smythe. Unbeknown to her, Mrs Smythe-Smythe is merely a figment of an eager young reporter's imagination.

Directed with pace and style, its cleverly amusing script peppered with three or four charmingly tuneful and/or witty songs, and most ingratiatingly acted throughout, It's Love Again is one of my favorite Matthews musicals. Jessie herself is in such absolutely top-flight form (double pun intended) it's hard to decide whether she's more wonderfully gifted as a light comedienne or as a smooth singing, admirably acrobatic dancer.

Although Jessie is given more than ample opportunities to shine, there's yet enough room in the ingenious script for a marvelous host of supporting characters. Young does surprisingly well by the romantic lead, playing with both charm and spirit and singing and dancing with laudatory finesse.

For the lead support role of Archie Raymond, the producer was fortunate to secure the rare services of Ernest Milton, a famous Shakespearean actor who made but very few films. Milton brings a superbly mock-serious touch to what is nothing short of a brilliantly rendered interpretation. His performance alone is worth a thousand ducats; and the astonishing moment when Olive Sloane sweeps into his room and the two of them sit at the piano joyfully rendering "When You Wore a Tulip" while Jessie stares at their backs in dismay, definitely deserves listing in anyone's catalog of Unforgettable Scenes in the Cinema.

Although up-staged for the first and only time in his comic career, Sonnie Hale still has some choice bits of business. One of his most amusing scenes he shares with his real-life father, Robert Hale, here playing a tiger hunter and India expert. (Sonnie's name is Robert too, hence the "Sonnie" sobriquet). He also has to compete for laughs with Robb Wilton who manages to turn to his own delightful advantage such exquisite encounters as his confrontation with a risibly elderly group of startled, typically British club members.

When she is not dancing solo or being partnered with diffident but able Young, Jessie has two fascinating duets with Cyril Wells. Jessie leads, but the skill with which Cyril keeps up with her is truly amazing. He must be the only male partner she ever had who could not only accurately mirror her more strenuous passes but impart to their dancing a full measure of his own personality as well.

I could continue on with this catalog of the movie's delights for some pages yet. It seems churlish not to mention Athene Seyler's pleasurable contributions or to pass over villainous Cyril Raymond. And on the technical side, at least two or three paragraphs on Alfred Junge's startling sets and Joe Strassner's incredible dresses seem called for. Nor should I forget the most attractive photography, so artistically supervised by Glen MacWilliams. As for Saville's meticulously stylish yet seemingly light and gossamer direction, such creative entertainment deserves a whole page. In short, It's Love Again is so chock-full of enjoyment, it's a film I want to see again. And again. And again.

light & enjoyable musical

[spj-4 · 9/10 · 13 July 2006]

I've seen a few Jessie Matthews' musicals on late-night TV & they are all enjoyable. I regard her as an underrated talent from her era as I hadn't heard of her until the last few years. She has an effervescence & innocence about her that is ideally suited to such light & breezy productions & her almost accidental forays into fame & fortune.

"It's Love Again" is my personal favourite as the songs in it are mostly very appealing. It also gains from having a youthful Robert Young as a leading man & the settings for the musical numbers are impressive. This is much better than a typical time-filler of a late-night movie!

The Dancing Divinity!

[lmcooper-32332 · 10/10 · 11 March 2020]

Jessie Matthews' known as The Dancing Divinity on both sides of the Atlantic. A star on Broadway and who many at the time considered should be Fred Astair's partner on film, is the star of this and several superior British musicals. In fact she was the gamine in the first musical version of Victor/Victoria, "First A Girl." This is a superb vehical for the dancing Jessie, a wonderful combination of both ballet and tap. Jessie's films were know for their quality which rivalled Hollywood. The story is the usual mixup of who is who, but one really watches for the dances and sometimes the costumes. A friend of Jessie's on seeing the costume for the final dance number commented, "Could they make that suit any tighter." Jessie had a fabulous figure, as seen in the film, why not show it at it's best. Her movies are also known for their original choreography, which she often did herself or with her own choreographer a black American, who in all possibility would never have been entertain in Hollywood at that time. He does appear briefly in one of Jessie's films, dancing under a lampost. One dance number in one movie is inspired by the German silent film "Metropolis." Jessie had the chance to dance with Fred Astaire, who she knew along with his sister Adele, twice, "Damsel in Distress" and "Holiday Inn." Unfortunatly fate stepped in and neither film starred Jessie. Jessie suffered from mental illness which put a stop to her career in some ways. However, she did star in the 1960's in the UK's popular daily serial on radio, Mrs. Dale's Diary. If you are into dance and get a chance to see any of Jessie's films take the opportunity, the stories may be lacking but the dance numbers won't be.

If dogs went to cinemas, they'd all be wagging their tails watching this.

[1930s_Time_Machine · 8/10 · 4 February 2023]

It's a lovely, cheerful and musical comedy that's actually quite funny.

Following the phenomenal success of EVERGREEN, Gaumont-British put Jessie Matthews into a whole series of similar films all with a familiar cosy, warm feeling of predictability. They're all essentially rags to to riches tales where a struggling dancer finally makes it big.

Jessie Matthews as always utterly adorable and in this film her singing is also a lot more pleasant since she's abandoned her earlier pseudo-operatic style. She immediately engages your emotions, straight away you are on her side, rooting for her..... well almost straight away. Even back in the thirties, it took audiences a while to get used to Jessie Matthews' weird affected accent. That incongruous upper class accent just didn't go with a struggling working class girl trying to get into show business. Although in reality, Jessie Matthews had indeed been a struggling working class girl wanting to get into show businesses and she did that partly by attending elocution lessons to wipe out all traces of her cockney accent! That cut-glass way of speaking didn't make her popular everywhere especially in the working class north where for some insane reason they preferred Gracie Fields films. There's no accounting for taste!

Albeit predictable, this has all the classy hallmarks of Gaumont-British, snappy direction from Victor Saville, a script that's still very funny even today and of course an utterly charming star. Besides exhibiting buckets of talent she does of course look absolutely stunning - some of the outfits she wears would probably not have been allowed over in America where The Hays Code was now in force to ensure decency and improve the morals of that nation. One of her dresses looks very similar to THAT dress Marilyn Monroe wore in SOME LIKE IT HOT and as for the 'spray-on' glittery body suit at the end - well that would certainly make those dogs in that cinema wag their tails!

Jessie Matthews makes a so-so movie into something wonderful

[morrisonhimself · 9/10 · 16 August 2021]

"It's Love Again" is rather silly, in a fun way, beautifully acted by every performer, but gloriously performed by Jessie Matthews.

This is the first time -- 16 August 2021 -- I have seen her but I am now a permanent fan.

She was a marvelous actress, with a face that is unique, perhaps not classically beautiful, but so expressive, so bright and charming, that she is beautiful.

She was quite a singer and dancer, too, and whatever it is that slowed down her career is to be condemned. It is a terrible shame there aren't many more of her films available.

Her leading man here is Robert Young, and the occasion of this film being broadcast on TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" was a retrospective of his movies.

Sorry, but "It's Love Again" belongs to Jessie Matthews. It's purely her looks and her performance to bring audiences in and surely back.

Delightful Jessie Matthews

[wilvram · 8/10 · 13 April 2020]

Jessie Matthews is at the height of her powers here, charming and lovely and lighting up the screen as she dances divinely in a number of captivating costumes in a stunning display of terpsichoreal virtuosity. Apart from It's Love Again the musical compositions are not particularly memorable in themselves, but provide everything the star needs to showcase her talents. There's no doubt that Victor Saville was her best director, endowing her with the confidence to give her all, and there's the stylish photography of Glen MacWilliams. Hollywood star Robert Young and husband Sonnie Hale, the latter not as irritating as usual and actually quite amusing on occasions, give support in this light-hearted extravaganza.

Excellent movie.

[MGS · 12 November 1998]

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