Chérie, divorçons

Poor Colbert.

She's surrounded by actors who couldn't stand in front of a camera with her, even if they had been in their prime. Her star power blows them right off the screen, one after the other. Looks, charm, stance, poise, physical condition, charisma, eyes, nose, mouth, voice, motions..... every aspect that goes into making an actress, she's ten times greater than anyone else in this film.

Even in scenes where the action takes place in the living room, with all the other actors talking and moving in the foreground, and Colbert standing in the kitchen door, she just dominates the shot. It's dazzling to see how great she is, but it saddens the heart that she couldn't get better treatment from a studio.

It's like watching a world record brook trout swimming in a school of grass carp.

Let's Make It Legal is an amiable lightweight comedy that gave Marilyn Monroe a featured role in her days on the rise as a legend. The stars are Claudette Colbert and MacDonald Carey who are calling the marriage quits after over 20 years. Waiting in the wings is an old beau of Claudette, Zachary Scott who lost Claudette to Carey back in the day and has gone on to become a captain of industry and awaiting a presidential appointment besides.

The reason for the divorce is Carey's drinking and gambling. His only other indulgence is his garden where he's grown some prize rose bushes.

Two other interested parties are their son-in-law Robert Wagner and daughter Barbara Bates who live with Claudette with their baby girl. Bates won't leave the mother alone and wants her parents back together. Wagner wants to have their own home and if she won't get back together with Carey, Wagner will push a marriage with Scott.

Carey should have done more comedy in his career, he had a nice light touch and does a marvelous drunk act. Colbert is a veteran comedy performer and the part was definitely no strain on her. Still Let's Make It Legal will never be among her top fifty. And Scott is shown up to be something of a cad in the end.

The nucleus of this story is how Carey won her and what he does to win her back. Fans of the main players should enjoy Let's Make It Legal and others will to.

Pretty straightforward romantic comedy from the 1950's starring the wonderful Claudette Colbert and the new to me Macdonald Carey. They play Miriam and Hugh Halsworth who are in the process of getting a divorce. Miriam is still living in the family's home with their daughter, son-in-law and new born granddaughter. I was delighted to see Robert Wagner as the son-in-law who played off Barbara Bates who played his young wife. Another delightful surprise is the young Marilyn Monroe, who plays a bit part as a side character...I feel like she was under used in this film as a distraction.

A large part of the comedy is around Hugh constantly showing up uninvited to the family home...and his concern over his garden roses that at one point he shows up at night to move! Their divorce is proceeding when their high school friend and Miriam's former boyfriend shows up wanting to pursue her again...this reveals an ancient secret around some dice used to win Miriam.

Claudette Colbert is the best part of this film and if you are a fan you just get it. Cute and fun, I think fans of early 50's romantic comedies will enjoy this. The one downside is the whole divorce storyline. I hate the normalization of divorce that I see in this film.

The two main male characters are both pursuing and fighting over the older woman (Claudette Colbert) and ignoring the charms of the young bombshell (Marilyn Monroe)! Surely that is a progressive and unusual story line for 1951, maybe for any era. Colbert and the two men do fine work, and Monroe looks great and does a few funny physical bits in her small role (it is absurd that the DVD is promoted as a Marilyn Monroe movie). Great period costumes, decor and language, too. This is an entertaining, sometimes funny '50s film with a strangely progressive bent, a strong older-woman lead, and some interesting character quirks (how can you not love a guy whose passions are horse betting and rose cultivation), plus a Marilyn Monroe cameo.

Claudette Colbert, Macdonald Carey, Zachary Scott, Robert Wagner, Barbara Bates, and Marilyn Monroe star in "Let's Make it Legal," a 1951 20th Century Fox comedy. It's a fast little black and white film about a divorcing couple, the Hugh Halsworths (Colbert and Carey), their daughter Barbara (Bates) and her new husband Jerry (Wagner).

The premise is that the Halsworths are divorcing because Hugh is a compulsive gambler and Miriam, his wife, has had about all she can stand. So they've separated and the divorce is final at midnight. But Hugh is always hanging around, spraying his roses or entering the house on some other excuse.

Their daughter is having marital adjustment problems: She loves her mother waiting on her hand and foot and taking care of the new baby, but her husband wants them to have their own place. Barbara hopes her parents will get back together, which Jerry attributes to her selfish motives. In the midst of all this, an old boyfriend of Barbara's (Scott) enters the picture and proposes.

This film is of interest due to an early appearance of Marilyn Monroe as a sexy young woman most anxious to meet the very wealthy Victor (Scott). It's also of interest to me because Colbert and Carey play young grandparents - not young people playing characters supposed to be older, but actual young grandparents. You don't see much of that in classic era films. Hugh tells Scott he married Miriam right out of school. (In actuality, Carey was about 38 at this time and Colbert was 48).

"Let's Make it Legal" is also of interest as a look at how the studios worked. This isn't a big movie, so it's used as a training ground for two contract players, Wagner and Bates, neither of whom are very good. The studio probably appeased agent Johnny Hyde, who was ambitious for his client Monroe by giving her a small role. They used the film as a vehicle for Colbert, who in Hollywood, though still beautiful, is past her sell by date and relegated to less expensive films, as well as the washed up Scott. They pair her with a B leading man, Carey, whose big success was in television.

This isn't a great movie. It's light, it's amusing, it's somewhat dated. Seeing Colbert is always a pleasure and Carey was an amiable actor, Scott an attractive one. Sadly both Bates, who later committed suicide, and Scott suffered from depression. Scott at this point in his career concentrated on stage and television work.

Pleasant comedy.