Une fois n'engage à rien

Since Janet Leigh is one of my favorite movie stars from the past, I really enjoyed this 1952 film where she stars as Lucy Duncan, a lawyer who had to work her way through some rough times in order to become a lawyer. Lucy has a boyfriend who is a civil engineer and makes eight-five dollars a week and Lucy finds out she has a new client who is willing to pay her fifty dollars a week and between the two of their salaries, they would be able to get hitched. The client Lucy has is Judge Samuel Coulter, (Lewis Stone) who wants Lucy to have a sort of power of attorney over the trust fund of Mark Maclene IV who is very wealthy and simply spends his money like water on all kinds of gals, giving them jewelry, furs and the list goes on and on. Lucy takes control and takes back all the items that Mark purchased and makes him live on fifty dollars a week, plus 50 cents for lunch. Lucy even shows Mark an auto mat where he can get his lunch for a quarter and takes him on a Staten Island Ferry ride for only 5 cents one way. Janet Leigh was twenty-five when she made this picture and was recently married to Tony Curtis. Great film to view, Enjoy.

Trust fund playboy Mark MacLene (Peter Lawford) is in debt to the IRS and others. Using the trust agreement, Judge Samuel Coulter assigns overzealous lawyer Lucy Duncan (Janet Leigh) to be a trustee to oversee the spending. She's a penny pincher and puts him on a tight budget. Her first lesson is to bring him to the Automat for lunch. Her boyfriend Tom grows jealous as she grows closer to Mark.

Janet Leigh is great although I don't always agree with her character's view on money. It's very protestant of her. Fans will enjoy her. I don't see enough difference between Mark and Tom. Certainly, these characters do change over time. Tom needs to be colder and stiffer so the comparison can be made with Mark. Nevertheless, I like the rom-com premise and structure. In general, I like these actors. I would like some minor changes to help with the rom-com chemistry.

Mark MacLene owes a lot of money to the Internal Revenue Service, banks and others. The problem is that his trust makes $1 million a year, but he spends $150,000 every month. Sam, his board of directors, attorneys and using savings terms hire the thrifty Lucille Duncan to manage Mark's finances. When he received thousands of dollars in gifts and expenses last night, he immediately cancelled his billing account and returned as many gifts as possible. Then Mark gives out a bonus of $50 a week, which is even more disturbing. In order to get rid of Lucy, Mark moved in with her and made sure that Tom was a great help to his boyfriend. Tom now thinks he is going to marry Lucy and lift his strict control.

I had a very hard time watching and enjoying "Just This Once" and I am sure this film will strike some viewers the same way. This is because the leading character is so unlikable and spoiled that it's hard to care about him...and this seems like a fatal quality to have in a romantic comedy!

When the film begins, the Judge (Lewis Stone) is frustrated at Mark (Peter Lawford). After all, the Judge is in charge of the trust fund which more than amply provides for Mark...a million dollars a year. Yet despite this, he spends MUCH more and his creditors are furious. In desperation, he has a tough attorney, Lucy Duncan (Janet Leigh) appointed to oversea Mark's finances. She gives him a budget and does everything she can to stop his spending...and he responds by flying to Europe and Honolulu and spending like a mad man! Obviously he's either really, really dim or extremely arrogant and spoiled...neither of which make him an attractive or likable person. Sadly, you know that since this is a rom-com that these two completely mismatched folks will eventually fall in love...something that just makes no sense in a case like this.

So despite this major problem, is the film any good? Well, Leigh and Stone try their best but the plot difficulties are just too overwhelming to overcome. The film is slick looking and has a nice MGM look but the script is just awful...a case where I am surprised that the film was made in the first place. And, a film which makes Peter Lawford seem boorish and annoying.

The writers of this movie were undoubtedly familiar with the countless screwball rom-coms of the 1930's and were aiming for a similar movie.

They were probably thinking it was a surefire hit, with those glittering stars, Peter Lawford and janet Leigh. But, sadly those delightful screwball days seem to long be over.

The old-time movies brought it in fast and delightful; they told the story in a little more than an hour, and everyone (especially the audience) went home happy.

The premise of "Just This Once" has the right stuff--spendthrift handsome playboy, self-made, highly principled lawyer, who is also beautiful, scraping by on a tiny salary, plus her long-time (but unexciting) fiance who shares all her upright values.

We pretty know much know that, despite everything, the two stars Lawford and Leigh will wind up together. That's how screwball comedy works, right?

But what a long, plodding trip it is! It takes 90 minutes to wind things up and not too many laughs along the way.

Could rewrite have improved this movie--or, sadly, is the screwball comedy dead and buried? We hope not--but the magic just isn't here, despite the star power.