La Dangereuse Aventure

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.

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.

Sexy sophisticated photographer Colbert falls for lunkhead tunnel worker. A variation on the old independent city girl falls for ordinary joe that worked in both Mr. Smith and Mr.Deeds Goes to Town. The scenes inside the construction tunnel are pretty well done and Colbert is always great . McMurry is a little hard to swallow as the hunky construction "Superman!?" I think I'm in better shape and I'm 59. Still both are excellent comedy actors so it makes this enjoyable enough.

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."