No Time for Love

Claudette Colbert is a photographer who takes pictures for Mirror Magazine. a current events and topics sheet of a kind. When she's sent on assignment to cover "sandhogs" who are tunneling for the city's sewer, etc. she discovers sweaty, shirtless men underground and Fred MacMurray is one of them. Of course, they do not hit it off well in the beginning. With his swagger, ego, and his obvious gruff way with women, the viewer can see he's used to a certain type of woman and to taking what he wants. But his he-man attitude is lost on her. Or so, she says. She winds up dreaming about this man that his co-workers call "Superman." Of course, the irony here is that Fred MacMurray would be the model that the creator of Captain Marvel took for his inspiration. But, getting back to the movie, this is quite a brisk and fun comedy, with enough sex appeal and quick dialogue to keep the viewer entertained and alert! While no classic, it's still a lot of fun with Fred and Claudette bickering and waiting until the last frame to kiss and make up. And, in the end, someone, who wants to visit them, asks "Can I come tomorrow night?" Claudette responds, "No. Not tomorrow night." Get carried away with people who think they've "no time for love."

This is a corny love story, no doubt about it. Colbert was at her prime, and MacMurray was on the way up. She was shapely, witty and ravishing as the Uptown NYC reporter, and he was sweat-laden, resolute and brawny in the mud somewhere below the Hudson. I saw it about thirty five years ago, and somehow it has stuck with me all these years. Now that I live in Massachusetts, where the taxpayer has just poured $16BN into a death hole below Boston, I just wish that old' Fred was still kicking so he could jump down in that glory hole and make it all right. Claudette could put the ink out on all the shady contractors and corrupt politicians. How come life isn't more like the movies?

Physical comedy of the kind we call screwball is evident throughout NO TIME FOR LOVE where Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray play a couple from opposite social circles. She's a magazine photographer, he's a sandhog working in a tunnel beneath the Hudson River. She's attracted to him at first sight but doesn't seem to know it--and we know he's going to fall for her after a bunch of mishaps happen.

The mishaps are piled one on top of another in typical screwball fashion with nobody making much sense. Certainly MacMurray's character is about as obnoxious and arrogant as any leading man Colbert was ever set up against, and she acts pretty irresponsibly in that tunnel where she gets up to her neck in trouble and mud--lots of mud.

But somehow, it's all very watchable with a cast that knows exactly how to play this sort of thing. Claude Binyon had a way with writing slight romantic comedies and he gives Colbert and MacMurray some bright lines to work with. Others fortunate enough to get some good moments are Richard Haydn, Ilka Chase, June Havoc and Rod Cameron. If you look closely you can spot Tom Neal in the background as one of the sandhogs.

It doesn't make a lot of sense when you stop to think about it, but it's fun while it lasts, thanks mainly to MacMurray and Colbert who can do this kind of romp effortlessly.

Funniest bit: As MacMurray exits in final scene carrying Colbert like a caveman over his back, Richard Haydn says: "I'll drop by for supper tomorrow night." "Not tomorrow night," says Colbert. Wink. Wink.

Yes, it is dated and sexist and kinda clichéd. You can also say that for most comedies of this era. BUT - this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It has it all: snappy dialogue, perfectly delivered by a stellar cast; loads of broad physical humor; moments you won't believe got past the censors:

Ryan: it was so late when I finished, that-- Katherine: Finished what? Ryan: Are you kidding?

Colbert and MacMurray's supporting cast really shine too. June Havoc as the ditsy Darlene ("Hey, my face was open!"), Richard Haydn as Roger, the composer ("What am I supposed to do here, there isn't even a piano!") and of course, Ilka Chase as Katherine's sister Hoppy, who delivers one of the best comedic lines in movie history: "Doorbells should ring once, then electrocute the ringer."

This has been one of my favorite films for years, so I was thrilled when it was finally released on DVD as part of a Claudette Colbert collection. Do yourself a favor and pick it up...there are five other fun films in the collection, but none top "No Time for Love."

I have seen this movie many times and am searching for a copy. It is a favorite. Those who have loved Colbert and McMurry in their other pairings will thoroughly enjoy this romp. These two had an on-screen chemistry second only to Hepburn ad Tracy. If you loved "The Egg and I", you will enjoy "No Time for Love". Ilka Chase fans will enjoy her role as she always played her characters with such ease and reality. Colbert, like Roz Russel, always played the woman in command of her life who eventually gives into her leading man. The viewer must remember that "No Time for Love" was a contract movie cranked out at rapid pace by the studios for profit and in an era of war. These movies were needed to lighten the spirit of America and they still do that today.