I'll Wait for You

Although Hollywood gets some heat for making remakes and reboots, this is NOT a new thing at all. In fact, OFTEN they would remake movies only a few years after the original film all the way back to the 1930s and 40s. So, it's not surprising that MGM would remake "Hide-Out" as "I'll Wait for You" only seven years later. The original version stars Robert Montgomery, a wonderful actor. The remake stars the far less famous Robert Sterling, who is wonderful here but just not as wonderful as Montgomery! The major difference between the two that I noticed was that the remake added a couple unnecessary musical numbers...otherwise they are so similar I wonder why anyone would want to see the remake instead.

The plot has been done before. Hard boiled gangster on the lam hides out at a farm and falls for the local nice/innocent girl next door. Robert Sterling ( a poor man's Robert Taylor) plays Lucky the hood . He does a poor imitation of Robert Montgomery playing the part with a lot of Montgomery's mannerisms from "The Earl of Chicago". Marsha Hunt plays the farm girl who really falls for him. The plot has been done before , the very best of which is "The Life Of Jimmy Dolan" with Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

About 5 minutes into watching this movie on TCM, I noticed that the story seemed very familiar. Then it occurred to me that I was watching the same story as Hideout (1934) with Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan. It is a wonderful story; both screenplays (while not identical they are storyboarded in an identical way) are terrific. For my money, the original edges this one out just slightly because it has a stronger cast. One has to ask, "Why so soon, only 7 years from the original?" I am a fan of Marsha Hunt -- beautiful and empathic, she'd make a great leading lady for any film. But I am a HUGE fan of O'Sullivan -- she is so supremely cute that her leading men must've always been falling in love with her. I don't think I've seen Sterling in anything else and he does a terrific job here. But Montgomery was really successful at being a lovable smart mouth and a menacing racketeer. I recommend both (for comparison) and both are wonderful, but be sure to see the 1934 movie!