Madame veut un bébé

Part of the premise of The Lady Is Willing is that the famous can get away with anything. Picture if you will yourself who while the police are investigating reports of a baby abandoned in a boardinghouse, just up and taking the infant. That would probably land you in jail for a stretch. But for Marlene Dietrich, famous musical comedy star, everyone is just forgiving as all heck and let's her keep the little tyke.

Everyone except the IRS who is insistence that she be solvent. Unmarried or not doesn't seem to be the issue. She owes a lot in income tax. So she persuades pediatrician Fred MacMurray to marry her. That would certainly save on doctor bills.

As for Fred who wouldn't want to marry Marlene? But when they enlarge their living quarters it's for cages for rabbits. MacMurray is doing research and needs them for experiments. He's also got an ex-wife sniffing around in the person of Arline Judge. She's more trouble than the rabbits.

The Lady Is Willing just will never be ranked as one of the 10 best for either Fred or Marlene. It makes so little use of MacMurray's comic talents which I find very strange. As for Marlene, there are times in the film when she comes across more like Doris Day.

Best in the film might possibly Marlene's girl Friday Aline McMahon. She has the film's best lines.

But fans of Fred and Marlene should like it well enough.

Wonderful 1942 film with Marlene Dietrich as a Broadway star who finds a baby and marries a pediatrician so that she can keep the baby. Of course, the story deals with them finding their way to love eventually as well as the situations they encounter such as phony parents showing up to take the child, and the doctor's first wife showing up to create further havoc.

Fred MacMurray is absolutely charming as the doctor and Dietrich showed how quite adept she was at comedy. Aline MacMahon co-stars as a wise-cracking assistant to Dietrich. This kind of role was normally assigned to Eve Arden.

Naturally, there is the end-of-film crisis where MacMurray has to operate and Dietrich sheds those tears. It's well worth it.

Engaging comedy with Fred and Marlene well matched and looking glamorous and gorgeous. As was her usual state Marlene is gowned in one eye popping creation after another with some extraordinary hats. She's loaded with gossamer charm as an actress who longs for motherhood and is suddenly presented with answered prayers. Endearing in her befuddlement of the simplest basics of children, including finding out whether the baby she's taken under her wing is a boy or a girl!, she still comes across as a sincerely sweet and loving person. Fred is all gruff exterior at first but his innate joviality soon shows through. The picture takes an unnecessary detour into melodrama towards the end but snaps out of it for a proper ending. A cute and frothy film with Aline MacMahon contributing a fun performance as Marlene's right hand woman.

Love classic film and there are many great to classic romantic comedy. Fred MacMurray was a very watchable actor and showed charm and great comic timing more than once. Marlene Dietrich was always luminous on screen, the camera clearly loving her, and always a magnetic presence, especially in her films with Josef Von Sternberg.

Both MacMurray and Dietrich did better than 'The Lady is Willing' in their long and distinguished careers. More the film themselves than their performances, which actually come off well with plenty of the assets that were particularly appealing. 'The Lady is Willing' is still a decent film with a lot to love. It is also an uneven film that loses its way. Can definitely see why some remember it fondly, why some like it but have reservations and why it doesn't work for others.

'The Lady is Willing' is one of those films that starts off very well. It is mostly very successful in the comedic and romantic elements. While silly in spots, the comedy was sophisticated, witty and humorous. The romantic element sparkled and charmed and the script is snappy.

It looks great too, with it being beautifully shot and the production and costume design are elegant sophistication personified. The direction is glossy and keeps things moving, while not always being inspired. The music fits decently enough and serves its purpose. MacMurray is amusing and charming in a role that fits him like a perfectly fitted glove and Dietrich is as ever luminous and makes a potentially bothersome character likeable. They play off each other well while appealing as a couple. Aline MacMahon and Stanley Ridges sparkle in support, MacMahon particularly.

With this amount of promise, it is a shame that 'The Lady is Willing' wasn't better. It is let down by the more dramatic elements and latter parts of the film. The melodramatic change of tone just jars uneasily, the melodrama coming over as overwrought soap-opera, while the ending is more maudlin than it is touching and the pace loses lustre.

On the most part, the story is flimsy, and that's an understatement, parts being truly dumb and at times bizarre, giving an air of contrivance. The rest of the supporting cast are competent but don't stand out enough.

Summarising, uneven but decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of those escapist, nonsensical, utterly unrealistic and yes, downright silly movies from a time when the world was anxious. Europe was under Nazi occupation and the US was contemplating its own role in the conflict. Hollywood had become very good at giving Americans just this kind of comic relief. So why should anyone bother with it? Because despite all the silliness the four leads manage to pull it off with great aplomb. Marlene Dietrich is just as exotic and glamorous as she was in 'The Blue Angel' if not more so. She was forty and a show-stopper without compare. How could Fred MacMurray help himself but fall for her. His role here is an early version of his absent-minded professor. And the supporting leads, Aline MacMahon and Stanley Ridges, are equally good and fun to watch. So sit back and enjoy the show!