After saving a life, William Powell becomes the victim of amnesia in "I Love You Again," a 1940 film also starring Frank McHugh and Edmund Lowe - this having the distinction of two Philo Vances, Lowe and Powell, in the cast.
Powell plays a cheapskate named Larry Wilson. While on a cruise ship, he jumps into the ocean to save "Doc" Ryan (McHugh) and suffers a head injury. When he wakes up, he has become his former self, a con artist named George and has no memory of the respectable, conservative, stingy life he has been living for some years. Off the ship, he discovers that his lovely wife (Loy) can't wait to get rid of him - or so she thinks, until she realizes that "Larry" is a changed man - for the better.
Powell is out and out hilarious in this film. For such a distinguished looking man, he has provided this writer with almost as many laugh out loud moments as the Marx Brothers. One of his best scenes is when his wife refuses to dance with him, so he dances by himself. Another occurs when, as a boy scout troop leader, he is asked to continue with the deer-tracking techniques he was teaching before leaving town. Of course, he has no memory of any such thing and, as a reporter follows him, he falls into holes, crawls around the brush, and gets stuck in a couple of traps.
The pairing of Powell and Loy is magical. She looks particularly beautiful in this film and her confusion regarding her changed husband and sadness over her marriage is quite touching.
Highly recommended.
