The Second Time Around (1961)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

One of my all time favorites.

Absolutely the worst movie.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A real western romp with Debbie Reynolds showing almost the same stamina she would show 3 years later in the marvelous "Unsinkable Molly Brown."Debbie had a wonderful support cast to work with, as a widow from N.Y. who ventures to pre-statehood Arizona.We know by the hand who actually murdered Sam Wechsler in his store. It would have been nice if something had been said about it.As always, Thelma Ritter shows her mettle as the strong-willed Aggie who takes the Reynolds character in to do farm work.Naturally, we have the usual characters in such a film- a gambler, farmer with a mother who will not let him lead the nest, and an array of other assorted character.While it may come as a surprise regarding who Reynolds winds up with, there is good clean fun here.

Although not a note of the song is sung, The Second Time Around gets its title from the song Bing Crosby introduced in High Time the year before this film came out. However Frank Sinatra scored the big hit on that song and the melody is heard throughout the film.It's a cute film, but sadly not cute enough for me. Debbie Reynolds a recent widow comes out to Charleyville, Arizona to get a job in a mercantile when she finds the owner being shipped out in a pine box. He was a friend to her late husband and now she's stranded in Charleyville in 1911 on the eve of Arizona becoming a state. Thelma Ritter gives her a job on her small ranch and pretty soon gambler Steve Forrest and neighboring rancher Andy Griffith are panting after Debbie. But Debbie who is disgusted by the lack of law and order in the town gets the sheriff recalled and gets his job.A great blow for women's rights, but so help me I couldn't wrap my mind around the concept that Debbie who was such a tenderfoot when she came out west is now handling a six gun like a gunfighter. It was really a bit much. Debbie and Thelma Ritter worked well together and they would do so again in the much better How The West Was Won. Juliet Prowse has a nice part as Steve Forrest's saloon dancer girlfriend who is remarkably tolerant of her new rival.I don't think The Second Time Around is first rate for Debbie Reynolds and the rest of the cast.

I remember seeing this movie at the theater and thoroughly enjoying it. I would very much like to see it again and cannot understand why it is not available. I loved Debbie Reynolds, of course, but Thelma Ritter as always is truly splendid as are all other cast members. Steve Forrest is a handsome romantic lead with Andy Griffin and Juliet Prowse creating a colorful background. The whole concept of a very proper young Boston widow with two adorable children trying to make a new life in the West working as of all things a ranch hand makes for most enjoyable entertainment. Why is this movie not available for purchase on DVD?

Film buffs love to say Debbie Reynolds is 'underrated' as an actress--but most of her fluffy output from the 1960s look suspiciously like Doris Day cast-offs. Finally, in "The Second Time Around", she gets a sparkling comedy, a disarming concoction with Reynolds in good form as a widowed mother of two who relocates to Arizona in search of work and ends up the new mayor of a tumbleweed town. Sharp script, colorful supporting work from Andy Griffith, Thelma Ritter, Juliet Prowse and the reliable Steve Forrest, and a fine sense of atmosphere and nuance makes this one of Debbie's best comic vehicles. *** from ****