La mère du marié

Okay, before I begin, I should point out that cynical people are warned NOT to watch this little fantasy film. However, everyone else should delight in watching this very simple yet very enjoyable film. Sure, there are a few story elements that just don't make sense--but my advice is to try to ignore these and keep watching--the payoff makes it well worth your time.

A young couple, John Lund and Gene Tierney, are getting married but are unaware that Lund's mother (Thelma Ritter) is broke and has no place to live. However, Ritter is very proud and won't admit this or that she doesn't have the money to look nice for the wedding, so she skips the service on a pretense. Later, and here's where realism goes out the window, she shows up at Lund's and Tierney's apartment and Tierney thinks Ritter is the maid who has come to help her cook for a big party! Ritter does NOT tell her who she really is and makes a terrific spread. Only later does Lund come in the kitchen and sees what's occurred! Now even then, you MUST suspend disbelief because Lund doesn't tell his wife the truth--he was interrupted as he was telling her later that night, as she was trying to make passionate love to him and he just forgot! As a guy, I actually can believe this--at least short-term, but not for most of the movie! BEAR WITH IT!!! Ritter, one of the best forgotten supporting players (here in a starring role), is utterly charming as the housekeeper and she is able to do wonders to help the young but troubled marriage. How it all works out so perfectly in the end makes it all worth while (particular with as it involves Lund's boss, played by Larry Keating). A charming film that is practically impossible not to like!! They don't make sweet and charming films like this any more.

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.

The other review of this movie got the plot wrong. Thelma Ritter is the MOTHER-IN-LAW of Gene Tierney, not her MOTHER. Ms. Ritter's son in the film, played by John Lund is the pretentious one. When his mother arrives to attend his wedding to the gently brought up Ms. Tierney, who is actually a sweetheart and a lady in the best sense of the word, he hands Thelma some cash to get a makeover, noting that she should especially purchase GLOVES, to hide her hands that have worked hard at a hamburger stand to put him through a fancy college. This guy is a real stinker!! Thelma ends up not going to the ceremony, fearful she will embarrass her jerk of a son. She then gets some jobs to buy a fantastic outfit so she can drop in on the newlyweds. When Ms. Ritter gets there, Gene Tierney thinks she is the cook she wanted, and latches on to her because Ms. Tierney is having her first dinner party, and she is in a state of panic and disaster. The plot revolves around the fact that Thelma stays on to help out, and swears her son to secrecy about who she is. There are absolutely SOLID GOLD performances by Miriam Hopkins, as Gene's snooty mother, and Larry Keating, as John Lund's down-to-earth boss. The best part of this movie is when Gene discovers the masquerade and tells her insensitive husband off, defending his mother as a wonderful, honorable woman. DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE !!

In debt to the Jersey City bank, hard-working widow Thelma Ritter (as Ellen) gives up her hamburger stand and hitchhikes by pick-up truck and school bus to visit earnest son John Lund (as Val McNulty) in Meridian, Ohio. Meanwhile, Mr. Lund has rescued beautiful socialite Gene Tierney (as Maggie Carleton) from a bad date with the boss' son. Lund and Ms. Tierney immediately get the urge to mate. When Ms. Ritter meets her new daughter-in-law, Tierney mistakes her for the cook...

Down on her luck, Ritter agrees to work incognito as maid in her son's apartment. The funny situation gets funnier when Tierney's uppity mother Miriam Hopkins (as Fran) arrives for an extended visit. Producer Charles Brackett and director Mitchell Leisen wisely keep the focus on Ritter, who turned her inappropriate fourth-billing into "Best Supporting Actress" nominations from the "Film Daily", "Golden Globes" and "Academy Awards" groups. In this one, Ritter is the star.

******** The Mating Season (1/12/51) Mitchell Leisen ~ Thelma Ritter, John Lund, Gene Tierney, Miriam Hopkins

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.