With a top notch cast including Errol Flynn (not known for comedy roles, but acquitting himself very well here), the extremely versatile Eleanor Parker (who appeared in over 80 film and TV roles), Hattie McDaniel (the iconic actress who was the first African-American to win an Oscar), S.Z. Sakall (a Hungarian Jewish character actor most famous for his role in 'Casablanca'), Forrest Tucker (best known for his role in the TV series 'F Troop') and an excellent performance by the child actress Patti Brady (does anyone know what happened to her after she retired from show business?), it's still not too hard to figure out why 'Never Say Goodbye' will never be considered part of the comic film pantheon, today or when it was released back in 1946.
The film is billed sort of like the 1961 Disney comedy, 'The Parent Trap', where children conspire to reunite their divorced parents. In 'Never Say Goodbye', the 8 year old 'Flip', actually doesn't take any covert action to reunite her parents Phil (Flynn) and Ellen (Parker) Gayley, until the film's climax.
The film's expository sequence introduces us to both Phil and Ellen, who come into a clothing store, looking to buy an outfit for Flip. Ellen opts for a conservative suit but Phil wants something a bit more snazzy. Soon we discover why the couple got divorced in the first place. Ellen was jealous of what she perceived as Phil's philandering. As a high- priced artist/illustrator, Phil is in contact with beautiful models who sit for him as he draws their portraits for various magazines. Phil denies Ellen's belief that he was cheating on her. Still, the couple appear to maintain an affable relationship. A secondary catalyst in the couple's divorce is the role of Ellen's mother, Mrs. Hamilton, who influenced her daughter as she was convinced all long that Phil was not really 'husband' material.
The film is divided into three primary comic sequences. In the first sequence, Phil forgets that he invited both Ellen and the model Nancy Graham (whose portrait he's recently been painting) to a dinner date. It's all rather obvious stuff with Phil running back and forth between rooms in the restaurant, in a futile attempt to prevent Ellen learning of his faux pas. S.Z. Sakall gets in the act as 'Luigi', the owner of the restaurant, who obviously isn't Italian but explains at the end of the film that he simply adopted the name of the last owner, as he didn't want to change the name of the restaurant. His contribution is a silly scene where he calls Nancy from an adjoining phone booth and attempts to get her to go to Phil's studio—she of course shortly discovers the ruse and Phil's plan to save himself from Ellen's wrath, evaporates.
The second sequence involves Mrs. Hamilton's solicitor, Rex, who dresses up as Santa Claus and is supposed to bring Flip some presents. Phil decides to crash the party and also dresses up as Santa. Phil keeps kissing Ellen but she mistakes him for Rex and doesn't think that's Kosher at all. At one point, there's a scene which has been done countless times before where Rex believes he's looking at a mirror when he spies Phil, who duplicates Rex's moves, to fool him. Despite being unmasked, Ellen finds Phil's aggressiveness quite attractive.
The third sequence involves the appearance of Corporal Fenwick Lonkowski (Forrest Tucker). Flip had been writing to him while he was overseas and at Phil's suggestion, she used a picture of Ellen to send to him. When Fenwick shows up at the apartment, Ellen is initially frightened but then decides to use him to make Phil jealous. Phil dresses up as a gangster and speaks like Humphrey Bogart (the famed actor's voice was dubbed in, in an uncredited performance). Fenwick decks Phil and there's also some additional silliness where Phil attempts to match Fenwick's calisthenics prowess.
The narrative suddenly concludes with Flip intentionally disappearing coupled with a frantic search where the police are called. Flip actually is with Luigi and due to the shock of having temporarily lost their daughter, both Phil and Ellen decide they actually do love each other and need to be together, to take care of Flip.
In the end, 'Never Say Goodbye' is usually quite silly but simply not funny. Most of the humor depends on Ellen's jealousy toward Phil. But the outcome is pre-ordained since the couple still maintain quite an affable relationship and Phil is basically such a nice guy. Often, the humor veers toward slapstick to compensate for the weak comic premise. While all the performances here are quite good, the material doesn't dig deep enough to tickle the funny bone. For true Christmas fare, watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' and skip 'Never Say Goodbye'.
The film is billed sort of like the 1961 Disney comedy, 'The Parent Trap', where children conspire to reunite their divorced parents. In 'Never Say Goodbye', the 8 year old 'Flip', actually doesn't take any covert action to reunite her parents Phil (Flynn) and Ellen (Parker) Gayley, until the film's climax.
The film's expository sequence introduces us to both Phil and Ellen, who come into a clothing store, looking to buy an outfit for Flip. Ellen opts for a conservative suit but Phil wants something a bit more snazzy. Soon we discover why the couple got divorced in the first place. Ellen was jealous of what she perceived as Phil's philandering. As a high- priced artist/illustrator, Phil is in contact with beautiful models who sit for him as he draws their portraits for various magazines. Phil denies Ellen's belief that he was cheating on her. Still, the couple appear to maintain an affable relationship. A secondary catalyst in the couple's divorce is the role of Ellen's mother, Mrs. Hamilton, who influenced her daughter as she was convinced all long that Phil was not really 'husband' material.
The film is divided into three primary comic sequences. In the first sequence, Phil forgets that he invited both Ellen and the model Nancy Graham (whose portrait he's recently been painting) to a dinner date. It's all rather obvious stuff with Phil running back and forth between rooms in the restaurant, in a futile attempt to prevent Ellen learning of his faux pas. S.Z. Sakall gets in the act as 'Luigi', the owner of the restaurant, who obviously isn't Italian but explains at the end of the film that he simply adopted the name of the last owner, as he didn't want to change the name of the restaurant. His contribution is a silly scene where he calls Nancy from an adjoining phone booth and attempts to get her to go to Phil's studio—she of course shortly discovers the ruse and Phil's plan to save himself from Ellen's wrath, evaporates.
The second sequence involves Mrs. Hamilton's solicitor, Rex, who dresses up as Santa Claus and is supposed to bring Flip some presents. Phil decides to crash the party and also dresses up as Santa. Phil keeps kissing Ellen but she mistakes him for Rex and doesn't think that's Kosher at all. At one point, there's a scene which has been done countless times before where Rex believes he's looking at a mirror when he spies Phil, who duplicates Rex's moves, to fool him. Despite being unmasked, Ellen finds Phil's aggressiveness quite attractive.
The third sequence involves the appearance of Corporal Fenwick Lonkowski (Forrest Tucker). Flip had been writing to him while he was overseas and at Phil's suggestion, she used a picture of Ellen to send to him. When Fenwick shows up at the apartment, Ellen is initially frightened but then decides to use him to make Phil jealous. Phil dresses up as a gangster and speaks like Humphrey Bogart (the famed actor's voice was dubbed in, in an uncredited performance). Fenwick decks Phil and there's also some additional silliness where Phil attempts to match Fenwick's calisthenics prowess.
The narrative suddenly concludes with Flip intentionally disappearing coupled with a frantic search where the police are called. Flip actually is with Luigi and due to the shock of having temporarily lost their daughter, both Phil and Ellen decide they actually do love each other and need to be together, to take care of Flip.
In the end, 'Never Say Goodbye' is usually quite silly but simply not funny. Most of the humor depends on Ellen's jealousy toward Phil. But the outcome is pre-ordained since the couple still maintain quite an affable relationship and Phil is basically such a nice guy. Often, the humor veers toward slapstick to compensate for the weak comic premise. While all the performances here are quite good, the material doesn't dig deep enough to tickle the funny bone. For true Christmas fare, watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' and skip 'Never Say Goodbye'.