Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

abcj-2 The reviews on this board seem to hold Dunne and MacMurray up to their usual elite standard of comedy. There is nothing wrong with that if you only want to see the best of the best. So, if that's all you have time for, then perhaps you'll want to pass on this one.However, I watched this film today for the second time. Honestly, I didn't care much for it a few years ago, so I wrote it off. However, I recorded it thinking maybe I'd been too hard on it and as I watched it again, I realized that I had been a bit too judgmental.The weakness lies in the script. Perhaps the aging Irene Dunne (who certainly still looked lovely and young for her age), wasn't being offered the best scripts anymore. I find that sad for an actress of her caliber, but it still happens today when actresses approach the age of 45-50.However, it is still a cute comedy with a fine cast. Fred MacMurray is a macho but weary cowboy with financial problems. His performance reflects this stress effectively. His daughters are a bit precocious at first, but Irene passes their tests and their affection grows.The supporting cast is fine. I love the telephone scenes where all the local women can listen in on a conversation and, of course, begin gossiping. Poor Irene Dunne's character is worked to death by everyone with little appreciation, but this is purely for comic effect. Gigi Perreau and Natalie Wood were darling and great little horsewomen. If Natalie was having an awkward stage, as mentioned in some other reviews, then I'll take hers over the one I had with no braces and an unflattering Dorothy Hamill haircut when I was 11. Overall, this isn't the best of the best, but it's certainly not the worst of the worst. It's still worth a watch if you enjoy these actors or this genre. Predictable and formulaic it is, but it's still much better than most of what's showing today. Also, it has some catchy songs and we get to enjoy hearing Irene's lovely voice. I'm glad I viewed this one again. It was a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon with some of my favorite stars.

krdement I love this movie.Irene Dunne is one of my favorite actresses and one of America's all-time greats. She is typically marvelous in this film. Fred MacMurray is likewise a real personal favorite. Together this wonderful, talented duo create two likable, sympathetic characters that you root for and that you want to find happiness together. Of course, it is never in doubt that they will end up together, but the complications along the way are made much more enjoyable and the slapstick is boosted beyond the ordinary because of the great personal charm and fantastic timing of these two leads. Irene Dunne, in particular, is one of the masters of comic timing.Natalie Wood and Gigi Perreau both portray their characters very credibly. Their enthusiasm over the wrist watches that Dunne gives them is also a neat reflection of the simpler values and expectations and the more modest means of that time. They have some cute dialog. In her youth Wood may have been cuter, but seldom as realistic as in this role. Perreau may be remembered best as the young Lark in Enchantment, with David Niven.The clever repartee between Dunne and William Demarest when she first arrives at the ranch is classic 30's and 40's script writing. The scene when MacMurray's cronies wake him up at 5 a.m. to go cougar hunting and then all make themselves at home in his bedroom on the double bed with Dunne is also a load of fun. (Please note that this was still in the double bed era of film-making, which is also something I kind of watch for.) The running gag about the dog is a lot of fun, too.One aspect of this movie seems to get overlooked. It provides a glimpse of life among working people in rural (and even small town) America that is not too distant in time, but is all but forgotten. Those people had to work a great deal harder at life than we do today. Cooking and washing were real chores. Life on a ranch was especially difficult. Besides the opportunities for slapstick humor, these chores provide us a glimpse of that hard life that people lived not so long ago. When MacMurray comes home late one night after butchering a steer, he is beat. His weariness is palpable. The scene is full of warmth between the characters, and it reflects real understanding of that hard life.This film offers both slapstick and great comic dialog. However, it also provides endearing characters in situations with just enough real-life type conflict to make this romantic comedy very charming and poignant. In the hands of a lesser cast, this movie might have been very ordinary, but because of Dunne and MacMurray it is a real delight. I regard this as one of the last of the screwball comedies - and a very good one. I have tried to find it on DVD.PS - Irene Dunne's last film appearance was in It Grows on Trees (1952), a wonderful and quirky modern day (1950's) fairy tale. It is very rare, and utterly delightful. But if you don't like this film, you probably should not bother with it.

Neil Doyle IRENE DUNNE, for some strange reason, is called "Buckshot" by her cowboy husband FRED MacMURRAY. That alone is supposed to be funny and endearing. Not.Too bad that after the smash success of films like LIFE WITH FATHER, Irene Dunne was so desperate for good parts that she agreed to settle for a film like this--tedious, predictable, banal sort of comedy that struggles manfully to be funny by putting her through some slapstick paces that are about as funny as a stubbed toe.Occasionally there's a lull in the proceedings that gives Dunne and MacMurray a chance to remind us that they're still the same old likable stars. But then the script takes over again and forces them to play a series of unlikely scenes.For good measure, they have two obnoxious girls (played by a plain looking Natalie Wood who clearly did have an awkward stage, and Gigi Perreau). They add nothing to the charm or situations which strain for laughs. One of the comedic highlights is supposedly when Dunne shoots a neighbor's pet bull. You get my drift.You can skip this one. Even the presence of two top-flight stars can't save it from being the most inappropriately titled comedy of the decade.

herbqedi This may have been the type of movie that gave birth to that infamous variety headline as rural Wyoming townspeople in rancher territory are depicted in classic postwar city-slicker-learns-life-from-rural-perspective fashion. And central casting regulars, William Demarest, Andy Devine, Irving Bacon, Gene Evans, Chester Conklin, and others are on-hand to reprise their familiar supporting characters.The title is appropriate; the pacing is brisk; and Marshall's direction even shows flair at times. And, certainly, this movie is pleasing as intended - a relaxing and undemanding family comedy. The postwar theme of having able, brave, and plucky women return home to support their husbands without losing their guile or abilities to contribute is prominent and obvious. Irene Dunne, in her final role, smartly overcomes the writing to put her personal imprimatur on the lead character. Her best scenes are with Fred MacMurray's pre-adolescent daughters -- portrayed winningly by Natalie Wood and Gigi Pereau.Unfortunately, Fred MacMurray, normally a personal favorite who should have been a natural for the part, gives one of his least energetic and dopiest performances in the male lead. And while the moments are not dull, many of the sight gags are predictable, but still mildly amusing.Performance-wise, a fitting valedictory for Miss Dunne. Overall, Never a Dull Moment is a pleasant-enough movie to relax with and relive 1950 without awakening your brain.