Nid d'amour

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.

Serviceman and aspiring writer Jim Scott returns home after the war to find his wife Connie had bought a rundown apartment building. With a large mortgage and no other income, the married couple work to fix up the old building. New renter Mr. Patterson seems rich but his many identities suggest a con man. He entices widow tennant Eadie Gaynor and an FBI agent comes asking questions. Jim's war buddy Bobbie rents an apartment. Connie is surprised to find the expected guy Bobbie turns out to be the sexy WAC Roberta Stevens (Marilyn Monroe). Scott friend Ed Forbes (Jack Paar) is taken with the former model. When the city orders the building to be rewired or be condemned, the Scotts face financial ruin.

Obviously, Marilyn Monroe is the big draw for modern audiences. At the time, she had caught the eye of the studios before hitting it big. She has the blonde look and the beautiful smile but she's not the breathy bombshell yet. It's really only a supporting role. It's great to see an earlier version of the iconic blonde. The plot isn't much. The lead couple is sweetly charming in a white bread way although he could be nicer to her. He's still a man of his times. The laughs aren't big but it's nicely easy. Nothing is outstanding except for sexy Monroe but that's all one needs anyways.

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.

Likable but decidedly lightweight early 50s situation comedy with an effective extended cameo from Monroe, who doesn't put a foot wrong. Apparently there was such a fuss over the bathing costume Monroe wears that there had to be a closed set for the shooting of those scenes. This just shows how difficult it is for us now to see how scurrilous this seeming innocuous move must have seemed at the time. Soldiers are returning from the war and things will not be the same again. Women are not going to give up the new positions they have been thrust into by the conflict, even if the likes of Frank Fay's aged womaniser do try and get things back for the men. Some extraordinary one liners, not all funny, but certainly pointed help to keep this afloat.

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.