Come Live with Me (1941)

Memorable, crazy movie

Best movie of this year hands down!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This Clarence Brown (producer/ director) movie opens very promisingly and in a most lively manner. Herbert Stothart's use of the Lone Ranger Theme as Kendrick's leitmotif is a stroke of genius (thanks to Rossini), the photography (George Folsey) is glorious, the art direction (Randall Duell) impeccable and the film editing (Frank E. Hull) brisk. Everything seems to be going well, but then the movie suddenly grinds to a halt. The story is all used up. So the screenwriter attempts to bolster up Van Upp's thin, original story by introducing some cameo characters. The most successful of these inserts are Donald Meek's professional bum and Miss Adeline de Walt Reynolds' crusty but philosophical grandma. Despite these praiseworthy attempts to give customers a run for their admittance money, however, the movie is never ever more than moderately entertaining. But I think the worst ploy of all, however, are the sexless outfits that costume designer Adrian dreamed up for Hedy Lamarr. Didn't Hedy say in an interview once that Adrian was jealous of her "in" with studio boss, Louis B. Mayer, and deliberately set out to scuttle her career?

Vienna refugee Hedy Lamarr, living in a swank apartment in Manhattan, finds herself in a spot: her visa has run out and immigration is giving her one week to marry an American or be deported. Since her married lover can't get a divorce that quickly, Lamarr proposes to down-on-his-luck writer James Stewart; she'll pay his expenses while keeping her own address, he'll work on his new story, which is extremely autobiographical! Pleasant, airy comedy with the leads doing first-class work. Stewart overdoes the loud yammering shtick, but he also has some funny bits (especially one with a cigarette) and a sweet moment near the end where he recites Hedy a poem. The plot is pure formula, however some of the commentary on the country's economy is surprisingly relevant, as is Stewart's scene on a park bench with a homeless man. A very nice vehicle for a good cast, and Lamarr is, of course, stunning to look at. **1/2 from ****

To paraphrase: "When you wed, you don't have to know that much about your partner, but when you're getting a divorce, you should learn about them." This is basically what this film is about and it is as foolish as my first sentence.The plot sounds good. A woman who escapes Nazi controlled Austria must marry an American or face deportation. This is the problem facing Hedy Lamarr but she can't make the most of it due to the inept writing. They certainly could have made her romance James Stewart more during the week she had before facing being removed. Instead, she merely weds Stewart quickly. After they're wed, her lover then decides to divorce his wife so that he can be free to marry her. Why in heaven's name didn't he do this before her marriage to Stewart.Going up to grandma's house at the end of this film does nothing either. Grandma's house is full of proverbs. One of them should have read "Much Ado About Nothing!"

Hedy Lamarr is a foreign born showgirl and kept mistress of publisher Ian Hunter. Immigration has gotten on her case and before Hunter can get his influence peddling machine in gear, Hedy's having some anxious moments.But as Hollywood fate must have it she meets up with aspiring writer James Stewart and they agree to a marriage of convenience to keep her in the country. And to seal the bargain Lamarr actually agrees to pay Stewart a "salary" so that romance won't creep into things.Well wouldn't you know it, Stewart writes about the arrangement in a prospective new novel that he takes to publisher Hunter. The rest of this film is rather obvious.What I find curious about this film is that the plot I described could easily be the basis for some sophisticated screwball comedy or a tender romance, given the writers, director, and players. But the combination in Come Live With Me opted for the tender romance. Stewart and Lamarr are just fine in their roles as is Hunter. MGM and director Clarence Brown gave them a nice supporting cast. Please note the performances of Verree Teasdale as Hunter's wife, Adeline DeWalt Reynolds as Stewart's grandmother and the whimsical Donald Meek, just being Donald Meek in a Donald Meek part.The title Come Live With Me is the first line of a Christopher Marlowe sonnet, a romantic piece that fits the tone of the whole film. But it does end on a Shakespearean note.