Dame un poco de amor

Whatever possessed HL to appear in this ridiculous film which panders to the worst excesses of male chauvinism prevalent in Hollywood in 1948.I fully endorse "cheeseplease's" comments.We all know HL was intelligent (co-designer of an electronic torpedo guidance system patented with a male colleague) as well as being very beautiful and I had hopes in this film she would espouse tracts of Freud/Junge and show us her innate well bred poise and intelligence.What we got, or rather what she was "saddled" with, was some airhead of a Hollywood scriptwriter & producer giving us the most facile, unfunny, badly constructed so-called "comedy" screenplay I have seen in a long while.

I too found nothing to laugh at in this contrived one dimensional film.I presume that by 1948 in this "B" feature, Hedy was getting rather desperate for good scripts or needed the money.The same goes for Robert Cummings.(How mush better he was in Hitchcock's "Saboteur" (1945) with Priscilla Lane or even his "Dial M For Murder (1953)with Grace Kelly.The subject film never touched on psychiatry presumably because the screen writer and producer knew nothing about it and patronisingly considered it an unfunny subject for American audiences in 1948.That just exposes their ignorance when films like Hitchcock's "Spellbound" (1945) had been filmed.Silly irritating sequences of both leads imagining each other's faces superimposed on other peoples bodies really annoyed me.How could two rational people who had reached an elevated position in their respective careers appear so foolish?Pulling silly faces or reacting in a crass way in these sequences is certainly not funny to an intelligent audience.

Why then did I purchase this DVD?Well I had hopes of seeing another good performance by HL like she played in "Come Live With Me"(1941) a witty and literate film opposite Jimmy Stewart.I rate the latter as her best film ever as her own character has verisimilitude as an Austrian refugee - albeit a very beautiful one.At least it is another rare HL film in my collection of her.Verdict - 3/10 could do better.

Even after three viewings, I still think this movie is terrible. Its a comedy, but I haven't laughed yet. Robert Cummings is miscast, and I keep wanting to slap this character as I wonder why in the world the casting director chose him (wouldn't Jimmy Stewart be much better?). Hedy as a psychiatrist is intriguing as a concept, but this script falls very short. As a consequence, she looks mostly flat, absurd and misplaced. Unlike a number of her other films, her beauty can't save this movie. Nevermind the fact that Hollywood was slack with boundaries in its portrayal of psychiatrists.

I hope future viewers find enjoyable qualities in this movie.

Workaholic advertising executive Robert Cummings (as Duke Crawford) is beginning to hear silent telephones ringing and can't remember funny Mary Treen. Showering at the office, Mr. Cummings decides he doesn't like women, who insist on the handsome man's account handling. One client, seductive Anna Sten (as Michele Bennett) won't sign her company's contract because she wants to continue being courted by Cummings. He tells senior partner Harry Antrim (as James Montgomery) to dismiss Ms Sten, and is given a job promoting a self-help book - entitled "Let's Live a Little" - written by psychologist Hedy Lamarr (as J.O. Loring).

When Cummings meets the lovely Ms. Lamarr, he decides women might be worth the emotional difficulties, after all. Lamarr, on the other hand, believes Cummings is a nervous mental patient, rather than a book promoter. They are attracted to each other, but romantic rivals Sten and Robert Shayne (as Richard Field) aren't going to give up easily. Cummings, who co-produced with his new company, handles surreal comedy very well. His dueling leading ladies are good, vaguely recalling Greta Garbo's last two comic roles. The intermittently clever - "Shave as You Go!" - script benefits from director Richard Wallace's work with his stars.

****** Let's Live a Little (12/9/48) Richard Wallace ~ Robert Cummings, Hedy Lamarr, Anna Sten, Robert Shayne

"Let's Live a Little" from 1948 stars Robert Cummings, Hedy Lamarr, Anna Stenn, and Robert Shayne. Baby boomers will recognize Shayne by voice alone as Inspector Henderson on TV's Superman from the '50s. This is the largest role I've seen him do.

Robert Cummings plays Duke Crawford, an advertising executive with too much work, too much pressure, and an ex-fiancee client Michelle Bennett (Anna Stenn) who is driving him insane. His boss expects her to sign a $100,000 renewal contract so they can advertise her beauty products, but she's leading them on, making demand after demand.

His boss suggests that he stop working on the Bennett campaign and turn to something else - getting press for a new book by a psychiatrist, Dr. J. O. Loring (though at one point she's also described as a neurologist). When he goes to her office, he discovers that she's a woman. And not just any woman - the amazing looking Hedy Lamarr!

In truth Duke does seem like he's losing his mind. He's very confused, and when he sees J. O., he becomes more confused. She becomes concerned. Both become infatuated.

J. O. Shares her office with a surgeon, Richard Field (Shayne) whom she is dating. When J. O. finds out that Duke goes to a particular nightclub, she suggests to Richard that they go there to see what it's like. Duke, of course, is there with Michelle, who becomes instantly jealous. The evening doesn't end well.

Pleasant but not a rip-roaring comedy. One of those '40s comedies that just doesn't come off. The stars are very likeable, though, and Hedy is stunning.

The situation has potential. A stressed-out ad man meets a beautiful shrink. Object: psychiatric humour. And maybe a little romance.

Unfortunately, the result could best be described as innocuous, like some sort of benign medical condition.

Bob Cummings plays his usual amiable self. But the real reason anyone would watch this film is, of course, Hedy Lamarr. She looks the way one would expect Hedy Lamarr to look in 1948. Fantastic. She is forced to wear an off-the-shoulder gown at one point to better show off her ... scintillating jewellery. The real conundrum is how Hedy avoided being the top pin-up of World War II. Maybe it was the saltpetre they put in the army chow.

Hedy's real-life role as a torpedo guidance system designer -- apparently that story about her is absolutely on the level -- is easier to accept now after seeing her as a no-nonsense, supercilious psychiatrist, sort of an early prototype for Dr. Lilith Sternin Crane.

The two Roberts -- Cummings and Shayne -- compete for the attention of Hedy. This gets a little childish with Shayne trying to pump himself up physically at one point. Also, characters often gaze at one another, then see the other person transformed inside a shimmering aura into the object of their true desire. Funny, but both these plot elements -- childish male competitiveness, and idealized shimmering figures -- appeared in a far superior film, "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer", the previous year, 1947. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

The film has some silly "psychological" dream sequences which are played for laughs, and which for contemporary audiences may have been a mild spoof on Hitchcock's "Spellbound" from 1945.

Anyway, it's too bad that all this seems to add up to so little in the end. Bob Cummings co-produced this film. It's a pity he couldn't have hired a script doctor.