6/21/2023 0 Comments Never a dull momentThe clever repartee between Dunne and William Demarest when she first arrives at the ranch is classic 30's and 40's script writing. Perreau may be remembered best as the young Lark in Enchantment, with David Niven. In her youth Wood may have been cuter, but seldom as realistic as in this role. ![]() 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. Natalie Wood and Gigi Perreau both portray their characters very credibly. Irene Dunne, in particular, is one of the masters of comic timing. 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. Together this wonderful, talented duo create two likable, sympathetic characters that you root for and that you want to find happiness together. Fred MacMurray is likewise a real personal favorite. Irene Dunne is one of my favorite actresses and one of America's all-time greats. Not a great comedy for Dunne like The Awful Truth, Theodora Goes Wild, or My Favorite Wife, but an amusing film that will please her fans. And William Demarest has a great role as a grumpy old neighbor that MacMurray and Dunne have to put up with because he has the source of their water on his property. Natalie Wood and Gigi Perreau play MacMurray's two daughters who take to Dunne quite easily, none of the stepmother angst in this film. I think the Duke would have been great in the role and we would have seen a once in a lifetime teaming of Irene Dunne and John Wayne. The part MacMurray plays is not to dissimilar from the one John Wayne did in A Lady Takes A Chance. But as he himself said in westerns, even modern ones, the horse and he were never as one. Nobody could ever complain about Fred MacMurray as a light leading man in comedies. In any event the film bears some similarities to another true story about urbanites moving to the country, The Egg And I in which Fred MacMurray also starred. She had also been married before and I believe Philip Ober's character is based on her ex-husband, Paul James. ![]() Previously Swift whose two best known songs, popular to this day are Fine And Dandy and Can't We Be Friends, was involved in a long term relationship with George Gershwin. The real Kay Swift according to her Wikipedia biography in 1939 met a rodeo cowboy and in a whirlwind courtship, married him and settled down on his ranch. Although it won't make the list of Irene Dunne's best films, it does have its amusing aspects and holds up pretty good today. Never A Dull Moment is based on the book written by Broadway composer Kay Swift who gave up the bright lights of Broadway to settle down as a rancher's wife.
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