Nid d'amour

Written by I.A.L. Diamond, the future writing partner of the great Billy Wilder, the script has hints at some of their future collaborations ("The Apartment," Some Like it Hot," "The Fortune Cookie," etc), but is nowhere as good any of those films. This story is about a GI returning home to find his wife has bought a broken-down NYC brownstone as an investment for them to rent out to tenants. What ends up happening is they find themselves caught up in the lives of their various renters, most notably of which is a GI buddy of the husband, "Bobby" short for Roberta, played by a before-she-was-famous Marilyn Monroe. When she made this film, Monroe has just had her memorable small role in "All About Eve" and studio boss Darrly Zanuck took it upon himself to begin shaping her image with a key supporting part in this film. Monroe is quite good in the picture, but is only of the several tenants the film follows. If the film had more prominently featured Monroe or made more out the perceived love triangle between husband, wife, and Monroe, it may have made for a fun farcical door slamming sesx comedy along the lines of "Kiss Me, Stupid." Instead, it's merely a pleasant, but forgettable comedy that's now only of note as an early work by Monroe and Diamond before they went on to bigger and better films; Monroe with "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "The Seven Year Itch" and Diamond co-writing "Love in the Afternoon" and "Monkey Business" (the Hawks comedy, not the Marx Bros. film) before their paths crossing again nine years later in the undeniable American film classic "Some Like it Hot." Overall, if you watch "Love Nest" don't expect anything the caliber of Monroe or Diamond's later work, but instead simply expect a modestly entertaining comedy.

Love Nest concerns the struggles of a young couple to keep the brownstone they own in shape and their tenants happy. June Haver bought the building as an investment with what was probably William Lundigan's separation pay. They've got an interesting group of tenants among them Frank Fay a gentleman of leisure who doesn't work but seems to be well fixed.

That's because he's a conman who fleeces little old ladies, but he's actually fallen for Leatrice Joy of the silent screen era who is also a tenant.

Another tenant is Marilyn Monroe who knew Lundigan in the service when she was a WAC. June Haver notices, but Jack Paar a lawyer friend of their's also notices Marilyn.

Love Nest is a slight amusing comedy. But the thing that gets me is that for all their troubles that Brownstone in NYC especially Manhattan is probably worth a small fortune for the grandchildren of Lundigan and Haver. Hope they hung on to it.

June Haver and William Lundigan star as a married couple who have invested in a small apartment complex to live and manage. At least, June did, while Bill was off serving his country. When he comes home, he finds what she did with their small savings. To say he was disappointed would be an understatement. The place needs repairs and he, with his profession as a writer, needs to get busy to make money. Frank Fay plays an older gentleman who (the viewer sees) goes from one lodgings to another and is preying on ladies' loneliness, finding here another victim. Then, of course, there's Marilyn Monroe who was a "war buddy" of Bill's, and he promised her a room. Jack Paar, a friend of June's, comes around, but Bill, with good reason doesn't like him, but then Jack becomes attached to Marilyn. This is a very enjoyable little film with plenty of activity going on courtesy of its eccentric characters. While it may not seem like much to the hard-to-please, the film is helped by the leads' charm and chemistry, with June Haver providing the foundation and heart of the film. Sit back for a spell and reside in this love nest. The ending may even surprise you!

This is a cute typical comedy from 20th Century-Fox in the early 1950's. This movie is famous because it has an early, very good, normal supporting performance by Marilyn Monroe. The movie stars June Haver (wife of Fred MacMurray) and Willam Lundigan, a minor leading man of the period.

The cool thing is this film has supporting performances from three unusual actors: Jack Paar, in one of his few acting roles, Frank Fay, once married to Barbara Stanwyck, who was the most popular comedian and master-of-ceremonies of the entire Vaudeville era (he also the star of the original Broadway hit, "Harvey"), and Leatrice Joy, a famous silent actress in one of her final film roles.

For those performances alone, it's worth watching.

Stars June Haver and William Lundigan as the married couple who buy an apartment building, full of interesting tenants. Soldier "Jim" is returning from war, and comes home to Connie, who is trying to fix the place up, but its turning into a real money pit. Sound familiar ? that story has been done numerous times over the years... Mr. Blanding Builds his Dream House, George Washington Slept Here, and the more recent Money Pit ! Good, solid story, with a couple surprises and twists. Great sound, picture quality. Throw in Marilyn Monroe, with a small-ish part. She does something odd with her voice; it's extra low, as if they coached her to speak in a certain way. She had been in the biz for a couple years by the time she did this one, but clearly she is not one of the leads yet. Directed Joe Newman had been nominated for two Oscars, for A.D. in 1936 and 1937... but that was years prior to this film. Story by Scott Corbett, and jazzed up by IAL Diamond, who did the screenplay for FOUR M.Monroe gigs. It's pretty good. Worth watching.