Look Who’s Laughing
starts out with Edgar & Charlie (performing a reprisal of their famous
vaudeville act, “The Operation,” in front of a radio audience) so it seems only
fitting that Here We Go Again begin with the McGees. Fibber & Molly
have planned a big shindig to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, but
their pals in Wistful Vista have given them the big brush-off, electing to
vacation at a swanky lakeside resort instead. So the McGees decide to head that
way themselves (although they can’t afford the tariff to stay there) and upon
their arrival, encounter Otis Cadwalader (Gale Gordon, in his film
debut)—Molly’s old beau and Fibber’s bete noire. Otis cons Fibber into
getting Edgar (who’s also vacationing nearby, in search of a silk-producing
moth) to invest in a formula for “synthetic gasoline”; it turns out to be a
bust, but lepidopterist Bergen has discovered a use for it for his moths, and
everything comes out in the wash by film’s end.
Here We Go Again
doesn’t quite have the same punch as its predecessor, but it’s still grand
entertainment for any OTR fan. The movie does boast of a boost in star-wattage:
Ray Noble, Bergen’s orchestra leader and comic foil, and dummy Mortimer Snerd
make appearances, and joining Hal Peary’s Throckmorton Gildersleeve and Isabel
Randolph’s Abigail Uppington are Gordon and Bill Thompson as super-milquetoast
Wallace Wimple (“Wimp” is the brains behind the formula). Also in the cast of
OTR stars is Ginny Simms, a singer-actress who achieved fame as vocalist for
Kay Kyser’s orchestra, and was also featured on The Bob Burns Show and
her own self-titled variety show on radio from 1942-47. Ginny plays Gildy’s
sister Jean and is Bergen’s romantic interest in this movie (I guess that whole
Lucille Ball thing didn’t work out). Two other actors from Look Who’s
Laughing, Sterling Holloway and George Cleveland, also have small roles in
this film as well.
Here We Go Again
contains some memorable set-pieces: Gildy and Fibber trade insults over a game
of pool, Edgar and Charlie play Indian, and Molly cuts a rug with Cadwalader
(both Marian Jordan and Gale Gordon do some pretty impressive hoofing in this
one). Even Charlie McCarthy has a song-and-dance number—yes, you read that
right, dance. Director Allan Dawn got the idea to allow both Charlie and
Mortimer to be a little more mobile thanks to some doubling by midget actors.
(This idea to use little people would later resurface in a memorable television
episode of The Jack Benny Program; Jack pays Edgar and Francis Bergen a
visit and is stunned to see both dummies moving about like real people.) The
movie also contains a novel chase sequence at the end that eschews the
traditionally tired use of cars and substitutes horse-and-buggies instead (you
know how it is with those "A" cards).
Once again, as in Look Who’s Laughing, the comedic strengths in
this film emanate from the witty dialogue provided for the stars: Bergen scribe
Royal Foster joins Zeno Klinker and Dorothy Kingsley in supplying Edgar and his
dummies’ material, and Don Quinn performs the same favor for the McGees. Allan
Dwan returns to helm this second film as well; Dwan was a veteran director
whose output includes Suez
(1938), Frontier Marshal
(1939), and Sands of Iwo Jima
(1949). All in all, Here We Go Again is a breezy, pleasant romp and a
must-see for any old-time radio fan.
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