Once More, My Darling
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Robert Montgomery
Lillian Randolph
Robert Montgomery
Jane Cowl
Steven Geray
John Ridgely
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Upon completing his latest film role, Collier Laing is chastised by his mother, a high-powered lawyer, for forsaking his promising legal career to pursue acting and affairs with vapid women. Content to live as a single man in his mother's house, Collier dismisses her admonitions to settle down and start a family. The next day, Collier learns that the Army has reactivated his reserve status and has summoned him to Col. Head's office. There, Head and FBI agent Burke inform Collier, a captain, about the wartime theft of a valuable German jewel collection and their recent discovery that nineteen-year-old debutante Marita Connell wore a necklace from the collection in a "Passionelle" perfume ad. Head and Burke suspect that Peter Vellon, the man who gave the necklace to Marita, is the jewel thief, and assign Collier to romance Marita, in the hope that Vellon, whose whereabouts are unknown, will become jealous and try to see her. Though reluctant, Collier tries to see Marita at the exclusive Bel Air Hotel, but is thwarted by the hotel staff. While sitting in the hotel grounds, Collier is spotted by Marita, who flirts with him, but he fails to recognize her in her boyish hat and sunglasses. When Collier reveals that he is looking for the Connells, Marita, whose nickname is "Killer," leads him to her bungalow, and he finally realizes who she is. Marita is smitten with Collier, but her overprotective father has forbidden her to see men and throws Collier, who is posing as a survey taker, out. Collier dutifully waits for Marita to show up in the hotel parking lot, and when she finally does, he "confesses" that he saw her picture in the perfume ad and is crazy about her. The loquacious, naïve Marita admits to the same ardent feelings and begins discussing marriage with Collier. Panicked, Collier calls Col. Head to complain, but is ordered to stay on the job. That evening, Collier pretends to his mother that he weasled out of his assignment and is going on an ordinary date. To his horror, Marita insists on meeting his mother, who is entertaining several lawyer friends at home, and shocks everyone when she appears in hostess pajamas, having snuck out of her hotel. She also repulses Mrs. Laing's guests with the suffocating smell of "Passionelle," with which she has doused herself. Later, at a nightclub, Marita tells Collier about Vellon and suggests that, while she does not care for Vellon, he is obsessed with her and will be furious when he learns about their romance. When Marita then proposes marriage to Collier, he tries to stall her, but she cajoles him into agreeing to a quick Las Vegas wedding. At that moment, a club photographer snaps their picture, and Col. Head arranges for the "engagement" photo to be published in the newspaper. Although Col. Head and Burke assure him that they will capture Vellon before the wedding, Collier drives as slowly as possible to Las Vegas, arriving late in the day. When Collier suggests to Marita that they wait until morning to marry and check into an auto court in the meantime, she angrily accuses him of having immoral intentions. Marita nevertheless goes to the auto court with Collier and continues tearfully to berate him. Just as the beleagured Collier announces that he has no intention of marrying her, Vellon bursts into their bungalow in a jealous rage. After Collier knocks Vellon unconscious, he starts to explain the situation to Marita, but is interrupted by her doting chauffeur, as well as a family-minded truck driver. Collier knocks both of them out, then is found by the colonel. Once Marita realizes how Collier has used her, she runs from the bungalow crying. The next day, as his mother and the colonel congratulate him on completing his assignment, Collier realizes that he has truly fallen in love with the debutante. Over a slot machine, Collier begs Marita's forgiveness and professes his genuine love.
Cast
Lillian Randolph
Robert Montgomery
Jane Cowl
Steven Geray
John Ridgely
Roland Winters
Maurice Cass
Ann Blyth
Taylor Holmes
Charles Mcgraw
Don Beddoe
Louise Lorimer
Wilton Graff
Sally Corner
D. J. Thompson
George Carleton
Edna Holland
Ray Teal
Bert Hicks
Ann Pearce
Barbara Payton
John Harmon
George Chandler
Jack Overman
Bert Conway
Maurice Marsac
Dell Henderson
William Vedder
Michael Cisney
Phyllis Kennedy
Jim Toney
John Pickard
Jack Gargan
James Linn
Donald Gordon
Betty Roche
Robert Coudy
Isabel Withers
Crew
Bert Anderson
Jerry Ash
Lillian Burkhart
Adele Cannon
Leslie I. Carey
Robert Carson
Robert Clatworthy
Ralph Dawson
Elizabeth Firestone
Russell A. Gausman
Joan Harrison
Bernard Herzbrun
Jack Hively
John Holdon
David S. Horsley
Corson Jowett
Lew Leary
Ruby R. Levitt
Les Mitchel
Warren Munroe
Orry Kelly
Frank Planer
Dave Ragin
Oscar Saul
John F. Sherwood
Frank Skinner
Roland Smith
Robert Spencer
Joan St. Oegger
Bud Westmore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Sound
Quotes
Mr. Burke, you've got thirty-two teeth. Would you like to try for none?- Collier Laing
I saw you the other day in a...a motion picture.- Mr. Grant
Did you, sir? How was I?- Collier Laing
Tall. Very tall.- Mr. Grant
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Come Be My Love. Once More, My Darling marked the initial production of star Robert Montgomery's film company, Neptune Films, Inc. Audrey Totter was announced as Montgomery's probable co-star in a late January 1948 Hollywood Citizen-News item. According to Hollywood Reporter news items, Michael Gordon was the picture's original director. In late March 1949, a week into principal photography, Montgomery took over as director by "mutual agreement" with Gordon. It has not been determined how much of Gordon's footage was included in the final film. Renowned stage actress Jane Cowl made her screen acting debut in the production, and according to modern sources, Montgomery personally sought her services. Hollywood Reporter news items add Pat Shade to the cast, but his appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed. Background footage was taken in Santa Barbara, CA, and Las Vegas, NV, according to a Hollywood Reporter news item. According to studio publicity material, a hamburger stand on Highway 66 enroute to Las Vegas and the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles also were used as locations. Score composer Elizabeth Firestone, daughter of rubber tycoon Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., made her film debut with this picture. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Sound Recording category. On January 8, 1951, Ann Blyth, Van Heflin and Janet Scott starred in a Lux Radio Theatre production of Once More, My Darling.
