Let's Make Love

Okay, I'm one of the biggest and most loyal Marilyn fans, but this movie sucks. Her character is at times cute but not nearly as cute/lovable as her other "dumb blonde" roles such as The Girl in "The Seven Year Itch." I do not like Yves Montand or his character - sorry to go with stereotypes, but he is the "Dirty Frenchman," spying on her, finding out her address and personal information, twisting things to get her affection, being cloyingly (and not convincingly) sweet to "win" her...And as far as theplay that was going on...okay, though I loved the number, what does "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" have to do with the play's supposed point? And if you'll notice, Yves is not very good at anything, even after all those people try to help him sing, but funny, etc. Yet they keep him on the play when Amanda's boyfriend is doing all the rehearsing for the Jean-Marc character. So does he have teh part or not? And if not, why is her still there?! Nothing in this movie fits with what it's supposed to be doing! I've read that Marilyn did not like this role, and neither did I. She may "have a heart of gold," and all those other cliches, but the character is just dumb (despite her going to night school - she should get her money back). Like I said, I love Marilyn but...even she saw how absurd this film was! If you're interested in Marilyn's best "dumb blonde" characters, I suggest you go see "The Seven Year Itch," "Some Like It Hot," or "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" with its superb "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" song (though her character in this movie is not really dumb...go see it, you'll know what I mean.)

This is one of my favorite Marilyn films. No, let me amend that--this is one of my favorite Marilyn performances. She is sweet, natural, sympathetic, adorable. She has no character to play and no script and no director (Cukor was sliding fast at this point) But she and Montand are lovely together; two great charmers surrounded by an overblown 60's confection of "guest stars" and constant costume changes (although some of Marilyn's outfits are so flimsy one wonders why they bothered to dress her at all?!) "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" is classic MM, but I have a perverse fondness for "Specialization" with Monroe hopping around (she really couldn't dance) in this INCREDIBLE gown, belly and backside bulging, a Reubens come to life. It's a very minor film, especially sandwiched between "Some Like It Hot" and "The Misfits" but there is pleasure to be found if you're into Miss M.

Without what we know about her now, this movie wouldn't be worth the time it took to watch it. However, now we know about what was going on while the movie was being shot, you can see the attraction between her and Msieu Montand, whose wife took him back afterwards. It's funny, since I've seen him in a French movie, where HIS wife was unfaithful and how he copes with that. What goes around comes around, I suppose.

Montand has to act silly, which must have been as painful for him as it was for his character, a multi-billionaire trying to win Miss Musical Star, Marilyn. Watching the male singer in this movie was funny, as it reminds you of the 40s and the Dean Martin style crooners. Watching Bing Crosby and Milton Berl teach Yves how to sing and be funny was a hoot!!! "Don't 'bubba-boo-boo', or you'll get arrested," Bing suggests. Watching Milton berl walk on his ankles wasn't all that funny, but this was the 60s after all.

I liked the musical numbers, and watching Yves' face do all its rubbery wrinkling numbers. He may have been a great actor because he could put on so many different expressions, but his best movie was the one where he's trying to run for office in a crooked Banana Republic (sorta like our present government), a Cost-Grava film.

See this one just to remind you of how beautiful, how vulnerable, Marilyn was: 2 years from her suicide????!!!! She really had some nice moves, and a great figure when a tummy wasn't considered obscene (in our day of anorexic sexy?? stars).

Released in 1960 after Marilyn's super turn in the fantastic 'Some Like It Hot', LML has often been cited as Monroe's worst movie.

There is plenty to work against the film: Cukor's almost non-existent direction, the rather dreadful musical numbers, Yves Montand's irritating performance and the wasted opportunities of the star cameos.

However, Let's Make Love is a reasonably inoffensive way to waste an afternoon. The plot is slight and therefore doesn't require too much brain power to follow and Monroe is, as usual, cinema gold. Despite the fact that she is slightly overweight here and nothing much has been done with her in terms of make-up, hair or wardrobe she is eminently watchable. She gives a convincing, assured performance in her role turning the simple character of Amanda into a sweet, likable woman.

As I have mentioned before in Monroe reviews, I always find it interesting to see Monroe in films in the 1960s, being very much an icon of the 1950s.

So, is LML really that bad? Well, to be honest no, it isn't. It's lightweight fluff that doesn't really mean anything but is watchable non the less. It is unfortunately placed between the sublime 'Some Like It Hot' and Monroe's bravura performance in the following year's 'The Misfits' but don't hold that against it. Make up your own minds!

This has got to be one of the dullest films MARILYN MONROE ever did--and equally dull is her leading man, the French accented YVES MONTAND who must have left his heart and his talents in France for the duration of filming.

He's simply bland with a capital B and very unfunny. And when MILTON BERLE, GENE KELLY and BING CROSBY attempt to give him pointers on how to be an entertainer, they're impatience with him is understandable. Whatever magic Montand had in his homeland is obscured here by a witless script and poor direction from George Cukor, who even manages to make Marilyn look less than believable as a wistful showgirl.

The faults extend to the songs to. The only reasonably good one is "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" done in a rather coy and simpering style by Monroe but nevertheless, it's the only high point in the whole show. Everything else is better left unmentioned.

Summing up: A waste of two stars who, incidentally, have no chemistry together, at least on screen. Off is another matter.