The Second Time Around

Director: Vincent Sherman Vincent Sherman

Overview

Though the title suggests that this film is a musical romance built around the song hit of the same name, Second Time Around is actually a comedy western. Debbie Reynolds plays a young widow who in 1912 moves with her children to a wild and wooly Arizona town. At first having trouble coming to grips with frontier life, Reynolds adjusts quite well--to the extent that she is appointed sheriff. She is courted by Andy Griffith and Steve Forrest, both of whom ride to the rescue when Reynolds bites off more than she can chew and she is captured by outlaws. Sheriff Reynolds marries Forrest, while Griffith, presumably, moves on to a new job in Mayberry. The big selling angle of Second Time Around was a very brief farcical scene involving Debbie Reynolds and a bathtub, which ended up plastered all over the advertising material for this film.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/16/2012
UPC:	0024543848844
Original Release:	1961
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00
Sales rank:	2,165

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Debbie Reynolds	Lucretia Rogers
Andy Griffith	Pat Collins
Juliet Prowse	Rena
Steve Forrest	Dan Jones
Thelma Ritter	Aggie
Ken Scott	Sheriff John Yoss
Isobel Elsom	Mrs. Rogers
Rodolfo Acosta	Rodriguez,Rodriguez
Timothy Carey	Bonner
Tom Greenway	Shack
Eleanor Audley	Mrs. Trask
Marie Blake	Mrs. Collins
Tracy Stratford	Cissie
Jimmy Garrett	Tobey
Lisa Pons	Mrs. Rodriguez
Nicky Blair	Mr. Stone
Jack Orrison	Editor
Tom Fadden	Feed Store Owner
Joe Yrigoyen	Bonner's Pal
Gerald Fried	Composer

Technical Credits

Cecil Dan Hansen

Oscar Saul

Jack Cummings	Producer
Vincent Sherman	Director
Cecil Dan Hansen	Screenwriter
Oscar Saul	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

The Second Time Around is interesting more for what is says about the state of the Hollywood Western in the 1960s than for its own merits as a movie. The Western had already begun its downward spiral, and by the end of the decade, the traditional Hollywood Western would have played itself out. The studios weren't really consciously aware that the genre was on the way out, but they must have been aware that something was changing, and Second Time Around tries to help out by adding a healthy dollop of family comedy and silly romance to the proceedings. Comedy Westerns were nothing new, of course, but this particular kind of comedy, which seems to be drawn from some strange marriage of Disney films of the period and popular sex comedies, was new to the "oaters" -- as was the kind of female lead provided by Debbie Reynolds. The result of all this is mildly entertaining, though of no great consequence. It's a polished, by-the-numbers kind of film, and it works, but you kind of long for a few more rough edges to give it character. The cast, fortunately, makes for very good company, with Reynolds feistily adorable, Andy Griffith laconically amusing, and Steve Forrest ruggedly handsome. Throw in Juliet Prowse, Thelma Ritter, and a sleek Henry Mancini score, and you've got an undemanding, pleasant way to pass an hour and a half.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler