Casado y con dos suegras

This one has the distinct virtue of allowing Thelma Ritter more than a few brief scenes and, as her fans will tell you, she's the best reason for seeing this well-scripted, smoothly directed comedy of manners.

The beautiful Gene Tierney and handsome John Lund make a convincingly in-love married couple, though this role probably sealed John's fate as a "stuffed shirt" in the roles he later accepted. Miriam Hopkins is devastatingly effective as a wretchedly spoiled woman and Larry Keating is just fine as a feet-on-the-ground boss.

If you can catch this one, its dated elements shouldn't detract from a very enjoyable viewing experience.

Where do I start, this seems to be just a well done ensemble farce with elements of screwball comedy. Mistaken identity, overbearing mother in law. But when you take a second look, this is a movie with cynical undercurrents about the American dream. I don't want to give away the plot so I will just comment on the excellent cast and direction by Mitchell Leisen. Leisen treats the material with such respect and care, what could have been average is fresh and new. Gene Tierney has a great comic touch, Miriam Hopkins gives a great over the top performance, then what can I say Thelma Ritter, just amazing. I was really impressed with her warm hearted scenes with Gene Tierney. There is not a weak link in the supporting cast. This is great ensemble acting. The movie comes to a very satisfying conclusion. This is one of the most underrated comedies of the era. I do believe this movies is gaining the respect it deserves. Most critics today consider this a CLASSIC. I hope Paramount will release this on DVD.

Though Gene Tierney and John Lund are the leads in this film, Thelma Ritter steals it completely as Lund's down to earth plebian mother from New Jersey. Thelma got one of her Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress, the second of six she was to earn in her career.

Mitchell Leisen directs this charming comedy about a pair of sudden newlyweds, she a débutante and him a working stiff reporter. They meet when Lund saves Tierney's life as she goes off the road and drives precariously on to a cliff's edge. Both abandon their respective prospective mates, Lund says goodbye to Jan Sterling and she to James Lorimer who also happens to be the son of Lund's boss Larry Keating.

Tierney's one nervous new bride wanting to make sure her first dinner party goes right and when Ritter comes knocking at her door, Tierney mistakes her for the new maid she wanted. God knows Thelma Ritter played enough maids in her career, it was an honest mistake. Then of course Lund can't quite break it to her, even after grand dame Miriam Hopkins as Tierney's mother arrives on the scene.

It all sounds real silly, but it actually does work, Leisen's direction and the talent of his cast actually carry this off.

Thelma Ritter went six times to the Oscars as a nominee for Best Supporting Actress and she could have won in any of those years. This year of 1951 her nomination and everything else that year had to face up against A Streetcar Named Desire and she lost to Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski.

Maybe she should have been up for Best Actress though I doubt Thelma Ritter would have won against Vivien Leigh. Still she's the main reason to see The Mating Season.

Mitchell Leisen directed three wonderful movies, one very good one, may fine ones, and some that weren't successful. No matter what one thinks of the hauteur theory, he was a fine stylist and that's not a bad track record.

The three beauties include this one. Also there are "Midnight," one of the most glamorous and charming of all screwball comedies, and "Easy Living." That may have been Jean Arthur at her very best (and most lovable.) (The very good one, in my view, is "Death Takes A Holiday.") Thelma Ritter carries this one. So, as she might say with a flip of a dust rag, "what else is new?" Indeed, she is one of the treasures of American movie history.

Here she is the mother of John Lund, who is not very appealing. She's as blue collar as blue collar can be. Lund has fallen for and married Gene Tierney. Her mother is played very stylishly by Miriam Hopkins. Well, which one would you want as a mother? Or a mother-in-law? Thing is, Thelma is mistaken for a maid when she arrives the day of Lund and Tierney's wedding and carries on this charade for most of the movie. It's sad, really. That part is rarely played for laughs and it is indeed far more poignant than funny.

Larry Keating is good as Lund's ultimate boss. The actor playing his son is a cipher and looks almost Keating's age.

But this is Ritter's movie. Does she steal scenes? Not discernibly, though I've heard her accused of doing that in other films. She steals the picture. And our hearts.

This is a lost treasure, I saw it a few nights ago on TCM, and was surprise about the acting and the quality of the movie, script and direction, and for a change it is not set in New York or Los Angeles, but in Cleveland, Ohio. Gene Tierney was fantastic in this movie. I wondered aloud why Paramount Pictures have not release this movie on DVD. Gene Tierney is by far one of the most beautiful women ever in movie history. This is a newer version of screwball comedies, but with a twist, I won't spoil it for you. Here goes what I can tell you, two mother-in-laws, a newly wed couple, a rich spoil kid and a beautiful woman, got it? That is all I will say, this movie is a charm. Even if you don't like screwball comedies, Gene Tierney is worth the time, she is just great to look at, a very beautiful woman.