Lover Come Back (1946) User Reviews (4)

often times silly, but not dull

[professorharoldlloydhill · 7/10 · 28 January 2013]

Lucille Ball stars as Kay Williams, a woman who discovers her beloved husband wasn't faithful while away as a war correspondent and reacts by planting clues that she hadn't been faithful either. This film is cute, and thinly plotted. It is a good showcase for Ball, who also is given a great wardrobe, designed by Travis Banton and Al Teitelbaum. George Brent plays her husband, Bill. It is nice to see him in a comedic role. Vera Zorina plays a woman who Bill had been romancing on the side, and while her acting is mediocre, her looks are stunning.

There are great supporting players, especially Raymond Walburn, Carl Esmond, and William Wright as eager suitors of Kay's, and Charles Winninger and Elisabeth Risdon as Bill's fuming father and tolerant mother. Louise Beavers is also a delight as Kay's jovial maid, Martha, and it is a typical role for a black actress of the time.

The script is often times silly, but the story is not dull, and the film does have some fun moments for Ball's comedic chops as well as Brent's. Throughout I was smiling and giggling, and I think that was the intent of the filmmakers.

Starring Lucille Ball And A Beautiful Wardrobe

[michael-248 · 7/10 · 24 April 2000]

This little romantic comedy doesn't break any new ground with a plot that has been done a dozen times before. However, when you get past that it is a very watchable film mainly due to pretty Lucille Ball. This vehicle features a very sophisticated character for Lucy to play, and she handles the task flawlessly.

Lucy's wardrobe for this film is 40's high fashion at it's best and that combined with some very glamorous hairstyles make for a rare glimpse of Lucille Ball the Glamour Queen.

If you can find it give it a look, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Stay Away

[AAdaSC · 3/10 · 28 February 2012]

Lucille Ball (Kay) gets mixed up in a comedy of misunderstandings with husband George Brent (Bill). The trouble is that there is absolutely no comedy.

Unfortunately this film has no zip. It is devoid of any humour and has annoying slapstick sequences that drag on and on. One example occurs towards the end of the film with Ball and Brent walking about in the same apartment but both unaware that the other is in the same apartment. That sequence really drags.

It also doesn't help that the characters aren't very bright. Ball is stupid to accept her husband's philandering with other women and Brent is just completely unlikeable. In fact, all the men are written as complete idiots and the script is transparent and obvious. The forced characterizations are insulting to the audience, eg, giving the male characters a jealous streak that just renders them unpleasant, and the women are all-knowing and all-forgiving. What a load of junk.

You'll do well if you stay awake with this film. It's rubbish.

When Boredom Takes Over

[JohnHowardReid · 3/10 · 26 June 2016]

Here's Lucille Ball and George Brent in a very talky comedy, written and produced by the team of Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano. On the credit side, this film is nicely dressed, capably played, and reasonably well directed by the usually efficient but not particularly imaginative William A. Seiter. That, however, is the total line-up of this movie's merits. In all other respects, it has absolutely nothing to recommend it. The writing is awful. The situations are not only boringly old-hat, but to add insult to injury, they are drawn out to impossible lengths. And what's far worse, of course, is that they were not even the least bit funny to begin with. Not only are the situations a total write-off, the dialogue is not the least bit funny either. Not a single one of the lines could be described as either humorous or witty. And yet this is supposed to be a comedy. Even IMDb describes it as a comedy. Where are the laughs? In fact, this movie is just one great big yawn – a fact that soon dawned on the powers at Universal. The movie lost money on its first release. But when Lucille Ball became a household word, the movie was re-issued – under a different title of course, namely "When Lovers Meet".