Miss
Greer
Garson.com
by Ed S.
Remember? (1939)
Pictures!
Scenes on Youtube!
Some of Ed's favourite moments
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This movie is generally considered to be quite bad.
In Time magazine's cover story on Greer in its
December 20, 1943 issue, Greer's response to a query
about "Remember?" is, "Let's not."
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But the first half-hour of this movie is wonderful fun.
If you're a fan of either Greer or Robert Taylor,
you'll love it.
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This movie was a hastily-made attempt to capitalize on
MGM's newest sensation (Greer) and to give Robert Taylor
a boost after two bombs. But "Remember?" did not
succeed. Robert Taylor managed to recover the very next
year with Vivien Leigh in "Waterloo Bridge", and Greer
recovered with "Pride and Prejudice". And they were
together again in 1941 when they blew away Joan Crawford
in "When Ladies Meet".
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But then "Remember?" may simply have been something that
was intended to keep Greer busy until they found a
really worthwhile role for her. That role came
the very next year with "Pride and Prejudice."
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In any case, the first half-hour or so of "Remember?" is
wonderful fun.
And it's full of good gags.
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Lew Ayres is very funny at the beginning with the ring
and his sound effects.
(He was in the middle of his very successful series of
Dr. Kildare movies.)
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When the men meet Greer at the restaurant, Robert
Taylor's banter with Greer is quite delightful.
These two are great when they're together in this movie,
as they are two years later in "When Ladies Meet".
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And Greer gets to kiss the one and only Robert Taylor,
and it's only her second movie!
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Billie Burke (Greer's mother) is deliciously daft. You
could fill a whole web page with the wacky lines that
she gets to say.
"We're having a big breakfast tomorrow. Do you
like horses?"
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Watch how poor Robert Taylor stands around
sheepishly while the party guests stare into his
eyeballs, waiting for them to change colour.
He was one cool dude, and to his credit he even has
the same birthday as I do.
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Robert Taylor is hilarious whenever he is
"
startled"
several times or so throughout this movie.
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Greer and Bobby talk western-style before the foxhunt,
and Greer attempts an American accent. She tries this
again a few times in "Mrs. Parkington".
(See the second video above.)
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Greer takes a golf shot out of a bunker. Elizabeth
Taylor does a much better job nine years later in "Julia
Misbehaves".
But I read somewhere that Greer was a golfer.
Perhaps this movie inspired her to take it up.
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When Greer and Bobby are riding around the 1939 World's
Fair, a peacock feather blows into Greer's face and she
brushes it away with her hand so that our view of her
face isn't obstructed.
(See the third video above.)
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Greer does a nice double-take while she's
holding her breath.
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The surprise-party debacle is the last really good gag
in this movie. After this, the hilarity
subsides for the most part.
They try to generate some comedy from the memory-loss
gimmick, but with only a little success. There are some
good lines but things have mostly fizzled out by then.
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Near the end, Greer says to Reginald Owen "Do you know
what you're saying?" It sounds just like the way she
says it the very next year in "Pride and Prejudice" to
Olivier during his failed proposal.
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There is really never any problem to be resolved or any
foe to be vanquished after the divorce. The movie just
meanders along with a funny line tossed out now and
then. It finally all ends with Greer uttering a line
that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
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Robert Taylor's character is the centrepiece of the
movie. He's stuck in a high-pressure job and tries to
make his marriage work while trying to oblige a
difficult client.
Of course, it's not nice to woo your best friend's
fiancée, but how do you expect Robert Taylor to
resist Greer Garson?
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Sorry to say, but Greer's character is the worst of the
three. She's willing to marry Lew Ayres after knowing
him for only two weeks, and then she's willing to marry
Robert Taylor after knowing him for only a day.
And she's not willing to make allowances for Robert
Taylor's high-pressure job.
She's just a spoiled rich girl.
She's certainly not the perfect wife that she was in
some of her later performances. She and Robert Taylor
have a scene of marital bickering in this movie, and
while her character's complaints in this scene may be
justified, I have no doubt that Mrs. Miniver would have
handled the situation in a more husband-friendly manner.
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Greer acts and speaks in a very Mrs-Chip-like manner at
times, with similar vocal inflections and facial
mannerisms. And she over-stares at her co-actor once in
a while.
But one year later she's honed her skills beautifully in
"Pride and Prejudice".
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All in all, this is a must-see for fans of Greer or
Robert Taylor.
For others, just watch the first half-hour.