Ein Mann für Millie

This is a lovely gem of a romantic comedy. Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes play well off each other and the plot gives enough twists. Mr. Ford has quite a way with comedy, one of which involves breaking the 4th wall. Can see why the scriptwriters were nominated for a Writers' Guild of America award. The story is deftly penned with the right touches of humor! A 10!

"The Mating of Millie" is a light comedy romance and drama set sometime after the end of World War II in California. After serving in the war, Glenn Ford's Doug Andrews can't seem to settle down into a job he likes. Evelyn Keyes' Millie McGonigle is a personnel executive in the huge Bullard's department store where she has worked her way up from a stocking clerk in a short time. These two meet by chance when Doug is fed up with a bus full of people who won't move to the back of the bus to stand, and he parks it and walks away from the job.

Millie lives in a bungalow apartment complex, and knows her neighbors, including a woman who has a little boy who likes Millie, and vice versa. After the woman is run over by a truck, Tommy is put in a homeless children's home awaiting any next of kin or ultimate adoption. That's when the mating of Millie gets into gear as she needs of be married in order to adopt Tommy.

Doug tries to help her by getting her to shed her business-suit persona. As she meets and attracts two very eligible bachelors, wedding bells appear on the horizon. But, without noting any of the rest of the cast, one can guess how this will end. It's a sweet little story, light comedy and enjoyable family film.

In this cute but slightly kookie comedy, The Mating of Millie feature Evelyn Keyes as a career woman with zero romantic experience. She may notice her good-looking neighbor, but she knows he'll never look at her in a hundred years. Glenn Ford is a bus driver who randomly decides to quit his job; Evelyn admires his gumption and gives him her business card so she might find a job for him. Also randomly, another of her neighbors is a neglectful mother who prefers to spend her nights partying rather than taking care of her adorable son, Jimmy Hunt. Evelyn absolutely adores Jimmy and enjoys taking care of him whenever he's left alone. After his mother dies, Jimmy is sent to an orphanage. Evelyn tries to adopt him but is told that as a single woman, she's ineligible. So goes her search for a husband, and the rest of the movie! Will she rope Glenn into a wedding ring, or her neighbor, or the orphanage director?

Yes, the screenplay is a bit uneven, but overall it was a cute movie. Evelyn is a poor man's Deborah Kerr, and she does her best with a transformation from librarian to party girl. Glenn is pretty cute as a playboy, and as always, his comic timing is great. I'm a hard sell when it comes to kids, but Jimmy won me over. I would fight to adopt him if I were in Evelyn's shoes, too!

Pleasant romantic comedy stars the beautiful and charming Evelyn Keyes as a businesswoman who wants to adopt the son of a recently deceased neighbor. But to do this she needs a husband. Her first choice is Glenn Ford, but he's not the marrying kind. So he agrees to help her find a mate. You can pretty much guess where it's going to go from here but there are some funny and touching moments along the way. Keyes is terrific and we get some early Ford here, showing some of his lighter side. Later on he would become typecast as a gruff serious type in his western and film noir roles. He was excellent in those but it's nice to see some of his range here.

One scene I want to talk about in particular. It's a cute bit where Ford sneaks a peek through Keyes' diary, only to find it's all blank. He then breaks the fourth wall by looking at the camera and saying "nothing ever happened to her." It's a funny scene and a different type of comedy than the rest of the movie, which is more traditional. One has to wonder if they had thrown in more novelties like that if the movie would be more well-remembered today.

After giving Evelyn Keyes the star treatment in JOLSON STORY, her studio failed to promote her in anything but some innocuous follow-up films with the exception of one or two films. This is one of the better ones.

THE MATING OF MILLIE is a frolic that was probably turned down by Rita Hayworth and given to GLENN FORD and EVELYN KEYES. Whatever, it ignites real sparks as a comedy, telling a story about a woman who must find a husband if she wants to adopt a little boy. The screenwriters find a number of amusing situations for Glenn and Evelyn and they make the most of their rather offbeat roles.

It's their flair for comedy that makes the simple plot so enjoyable. WILLARD PARKER is excellent as a bachelor friend who never notices Keyes until she gets some "warm-up" advice from Ford about how to catch a man. Before you know it, he's on her doorstep asking to borrow a cup of sugar.

RON RANDELL is the head of an orphanage who also has designs on Keyes but is a realist about the situation. The predictable happy ending is in sight long before it actually happens, but it's given a charming treatment. Movie buffs will recognize MABEL PAIGE as Keyes' friendly elderly neighbor.

As predictable as it is, it's still a charmer.