Isto é Amor

Statistician Rosalind Russell is a statistician for an insurance company. She's just published an article in the firm's magazine about how to improve the survival of marriages by starting off with three months of celibacy. When she marries mining engineer Melvin Douglas, he reluctantly agrees to give it a try, despite misgivings. His friend Allyn Joslyn convinces him he can sweet-talk her out of the idea, despite Joslyn's marriage to Gloria Dickson falling apart. Meanwhile, Douglas has to get a loan from South American millionaire Lee J. Cobb, by convincing him that he and Miss Russell are expecting.

It's one of those screwball comedies in which the wife comes up with a screwball idea and the husband has to live with it; after her success in His Girl Friday, Columbia liked to hire her back for these nitwit comedies. And a nitwit comedy it is, despite Alexander Hall directing, with a series of further misconstructions delaying matters further, despite Miss Russell showing up in something frilly in reel four. All the players try very hard, and while they manage the comedy timing very well, there isn't very much to do. Binnie Barnes shows up with poison oak dermatitis, and Sig Arno is given very little to do as the couple's manservant.

That after seeing this film newlyweds Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman built their home like that of the house in this movie. They even got the plans from the studio. They lived in that home through their 8 year marriage. This was where they raised Michael and Maureen. A second daughter Christine died in 1947 at the age of 9 hours. Jane Wyman sold the house after their divorce became final in 1949. From exterior shots of the residence it looked to be very modern with lots of stonework and steel. Wyman insisted no wallpaper and the interior was stained pine wood with very modern touches which were the rage in the late 1930s and early 1940s; it must have been a stunning house. Know it had a pool and a glorious view of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean off in the distance.

The same year Rosalind Russell made the funny "marital" comedy Hired Wife and Melvyn Douglas made the hilarious "marital" comedy Third Finger, Left Hand, they teamed up for another "marital" comedy: This Thing Called Love. With a plot that's both dated and timeless, Roz stars as a magazine writer with a theory she wants to write about. Her editor will only allow it if she puts into practice, and the only way to put it into practice is to implement it in her own life. What's the theory? That marriages end in divorce because couples haven't put in the time of getting to know each other outside the bedroom. She argues that if newlyweds spent the first three months of their lives together without having sex, the foundation will be much stronger in the long term. What's the catch? Her fiancé Melvyn Douglas has no idea of her plan! And he's been anxiously awaiting their wedding night.

You can imagine the hilarity of this battle of the sexes as Mel tries to get her into bed and Roz tries to get out of bed, all within the strict confines of the Hays Production Code. There's also a fantastic sequence that's straight out of a Fraser episode, in which a dinner party goes drastically wrong at the newlyweds' honeymoon cabin. Roz's sister is mad at her husband for having an affair with his secretary, and when all three arrive, it's chaos. Melvyn's prospective client, Lee J. Cobb (in another over-the-top Italian role), will only sign on the dotted line if Mel proves himself to be an established family man. So, in a moment of panic, Mel, his business partner (Roz's brother-in-law) and secretary (the femme fatale), lie and say that Roz is pregnant - hence the sudden marriage. Only, they warn Lee not to let on that he knows, since Roz has to hide her pregnancy from her boss (also coming to dinner) since he doesn't like children. Upon meeting the boss, Lee doesn't bother with formalities. Instead of, "Nice to meet you," he blurts out, "And what do you think the world would be like without children?" If you have the time to catch your breath in between bouts of laughter, you can absolutely imagine this story played out on the stage in its original form.

I absolutely recommend this one, especially if you like old-fashioned sex comedies that say a lot without saying anything. It's thoroughly entertaining, and a perfect example of the escapism humor of the time period. With two actors with impeccable comic timing in the leads, it's a cinch they'll keep you laughing from start to finish.

Just saw this on the big screen at Cinecon and I was floored by how much I loved it. The entire audience was laughing aloud and really entertained. The chemistry between Melvyn and Rosalind is like that of William and Myrna in "The Thin Man" series. Melvyn is so good at physical comedy and shtick and I have always liked him but I came away from this with a crush on him. Rosalind has never been more luminous and lovely and her costumes are beautiful. I was told this film rarely is shown due to a copyrighting issue but man, if you ever get the chance, see it. Its a classy, charming screwball that will give any Spencer Tracy- Katherine Hepburn outing a run for its money. If this came out on DVD tomorrow, I would buy it.

Celibate three months ann and tice(?) trial marriage fruend tekks him to accept she proposes 3 months gordon--other suitor NOT quetzelcoatl painful dinner party scene--bad often folks' beahaviors are difficult to understand--suck as strippng miss campbell--tries too hard

Ann (Rosalind Russell) is a rich and successful business woman who wants to get married but is afraid to really commit since she's seen other marriages fail. So, she comes up with a novel idea...to marry a man in name only....or at least for three months. That way if they don't get along they can just go their separate ways. Well, it's not surprising that her boyfriend, Tice (Melvyn Douglas) isn't thrilled with this arrangement, but his friend convinces him to just go along with her and once married she'll abandon this dopey scheme. Well, not surprisingly, it doesn't go how either of them planned.

This film's weakest point is the script. The actors are quite nice but a few times they're made to repeat a few silly lines and the dinner party scene, in particular, is pretty bad. But fortunately, the good far outweighs the bad and overall it's well worth seeing even if it isn't one of Douglas' best.