Let's Make Love (1960)

the audience applauded

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

*Spoiler/plot- Let's Make Love, 1960. A French handsome eligible billionaire is tired of women chasing him for his money. He finds a small New York stage play that is making a satire involving him. He shows up to stop the public embarrassment of the shows opening. He falls in love with the lead struggling actress. He tries to win the love of a stage actress by pretending to be another starving New Your actor in the same stage play.*Special Stars- Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, Tony Randal, Frankie Vaughan, Wilfrid Hyde-White.*Theme- People from different backgrounds can find common matters to make a relationship.*Trivia/location/goofs- Musical. Script written by Monroe's new husband, Arthur Miller. Lead male role re-cast over six times but finally accepted by M. Monroe's final approval.*Emotion- An entertaining musical film combined with Marilyn Monroe and several great catchy song numbers. A time capsule of the late 50's and so a bit of history for the viewer.*Based On- "Mr. Monroe's" Arthur Miller script.

French billionaire playboy Yves Montand (as Jean-Marc Clement) sees voluptuous blonde Marilyn Monroe (as Amanda Dell) rehearsing a "Let's Make Love" song off-Broadway and wants to offer a very affirmative response. Mistaken for an actor, Mr. Montand decides to go along with the ruse and try out for the play. He wants to get close to Ms. Monroe, who isn't impressed with money and correctly realizes "Alexander Dumas" is a noted author. Monroe's co-star and lover Frankie Vaughn (as Tony Danton) falls off the wagon with worry. Public relations man Tony Randall (as Coffman) plays his usual supporting role...Whatever Monroe and Montand were doing after hours doesn't translate on camera. He has some good moments, though, especially when he hires Milton Berle, Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly to teach him the art of comedy, song and dance. There is a nicely written scene for both, involving an expensive necklace. Also fun: the prominent placement of a Greta Garbo poster and some Elvis Presley impersonators, including surf guitar legend Dick Dale. Despite guidance available from director George Cukor, the story feels very labored. Monroe is distant, appearing as if inserted into scenes with careful editing. But, she's still an attraction.**** Let's Make Love (9/8/60) George Cukor ~ Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, Frankie Vaughan, Tony Randall

With the burden of all her own insecurity and distractions, and with all the commercial desperation haunting Fox's post-"Cleopatra" project, Marilyn actually delivers a very good all-round performance in "Let's Make Love." At times, such as her singing and dancing, and especially playing against Montand, I think she really is brilliant. She certainly acts and performs the wooden French star off the screen. (The thoroughly polished and rather cool British star Frankie Vaughan is a far better match for her as a performer.)Everyone has heard tell what a nightmare she could be to work with. I tend to think her Hollywood associates should have forgiven her eccentricities - apart from that late, great - and very nice - person Jane Russell, did she really have any friends in that brittle world? And yet they were all happy for her to sell the tickets that made her vehicles the big draw they were and earned the big bucks for the studios.Shame someone hadn't taken her 'little girl lost' aura more seriously than just thinking it meant she was an annoying airhead. Shame on them all for lusting after that magnificent physique, while impatiently and cruelly discarding the complex and tender person herself!If more people in her life had ever really shown her simple kindness and understanding, she might have lived longer, achieved more - and, most importantly of all, in the end, been happier. What an utter shame.

I quite enjoyed the 'set pieces' with Marilyn doing her stuff singing 'My heart belongs to Daddy' etc. but watching the film turned increasingly more irritable through having to watch, ('endure' might be a more appropriate verb), the scenes between Marilyn's appearances. Montand is simply miscast and one begins to feel simply sorry for him after the first few scenes, (whilst remembering him in such movies as 'The wages of fear'), and, apart from the ever-reliable Wilfrid Hyde-White, I thought the inputs/cameos by the other 'stars' were either so short as to be inconsequential, (Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly), or just simply atrocious, (i.e. Merton Berl and Tony Randall! Churchill said Britain and the USA were 'divided by a common language' but how on earth Randall and Berl could ever be classified by use of the word 'comedians' remains, on the basis on their inputs to this movie, a total and complete mystery to this particular Brit! I began to cringe when they appeared for yet another squirm-inducingly UNfunny escapade, (Berl's walking on his heels or Randall looking lost and dejected yet again, for example)). Verdict: hardly worth the effort of viewing apart from Marliyn's set-pieces. Set the remote to 'FFW' in between these.