Let's Make Love [DVD]

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Montand and his wife, actress Simone Signoret, greatly admired Arthur Miller and shared certain political beliefs with him. The couple had even appeared in the French film version of Miller's The Crucible, which had been adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre. Montand is cool and unflappable. I can believe he wants Marilyn, but I can't believe that this is how he would meet her. A lot of talented people were involved in the making of this and it seems a colossal waste of time. Marilyn and Montand and British pop star Frankie Vaughan had some nice numbers to sing. In March 1960, Monroe was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy, further cementing the success of Some Like It Hot. Montand's wife Simone Signoret, with whom he had starred in the French version of The Crucible, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Room at the Top in April. The two couples were soon inseparable; they had adjoining bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Clement uses the opportunity to court Amanda, who continually expresses her distaste for irresponsible, playboy-type billionaires. Predictably, Amanda falls in love with Clement, whom she believes to be merely a starving actor.

However, Let's Make Love is a reasonably inoffensive way to waste an afternoon. The plot is slight and therefore doesn't require too much brain power to follow and Monroe is, as usual, cinema gold. Despite the fact that she is slightly overweight here and nothing much has been done with her in terms of make-up, hair or wardrobe she is eminently watchable. She gives a convincing, assured performance in her role turning the simple character of Amanda into a sweet, likable woman. The faults extend to the songs to. The only reasonably good one is "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" done in a rather coy and simpering style by Monroe but nevertheless, it's the only high point in the whole show. Everything else is better left unmentioned. a b http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=489137%7C449837&name=Let-s-Make-Love [ bare URL] Montand played billionaire Jean-Marc Clement, a world-famous playboy whose eyebrows are raised when he learns of a theater troupe's plan to satirize him in a musical revue.I hope you can kiss better than you can sing." When I heard this line from the film regarding Yves Montand, I had to laugh, as in real life Montand sold a bazillion records over his long career. Miller despised the idea of rewriting a trivial film script, particularly one he described as "not worth the paper it was typed on." Still, he tried to tailor Marilyn's role to her talents and image.

It is quite possible that Marilyn felt Cukor was more sympathetic to the character she was playing than other directors had been to her roles in the past. The veteran director was probably at least partially responsible for her cooperative attitude. Unfortunately, though Marilyn did not impede the shooting schedule, two Hollywood strikes -- first by the Screen Actors Guild and then by the Screen Writers Guild -- held up production of Let's Make Love for over a month. Whether the two stars began their love affair at this time, or whether it had developed earlier, is unknown. Montand has always claimed that Marilyn was the aggressor; if so, he did little to discourage her.

Unseen Photos of Marilyn Monroe

In 1955, Monroe had entered into a new contract with 20th Century Fox, requiring her to star in four films within the next seven years. By 1959, she had completed only one: Bus Stop, released in 1956. While Monroe shot Some Like It Hot in 1958 (for United Artists) her then-husband, playwright Arthur Miller, completed the screenplay for The Misfits (1961), which they had intended to be Monroe's next film. Some Like It Hot was released in March 1959 and became an enormous success. Critics praised the film and Monroe's performance. Hoping to capitalize on this, 20th Century Fox insisted that Monroe fulfill her contract. The Misfits was put on hold and Monroe signed on to star in what was then titled The Billionaire. Appraisals at the time were mixed. The New York Times reviewer wrote that the film was slow going, that Marilyn Monroe looked "untidy", that throughout the film she is "fumbling with things in the sidelines...", and that Montand's accent was so heavy it was not charming, just hard to understand. The direction and script were criticized for not allowing Montand the opportunity to use his Gallic humor. The irony of having Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly brought in to give the pupil further lessons was noted. [10] The direction was further criticized because Monroe's appearance had changed very noticeably during the halt in production and under Cukor the differences had been exacerbated by poor costume, hair and makeup decisions, and by poor direction of the musical numbers. Poor editing was blamed for parts of the film seeming disjointed and for the use of stand-ins being easily noticed. It was reported that Fox executives wanted some of the scenes completely refilmed, but Cukor ignored such requests.

Dallingercaught Marilyn Monroe and actor YvesMontandat the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1960 during filming of Let's Make Love, co-written by Monroe's then-husband, Arthur Miller. The movie plods along for far too long until it gets to its predictable conclusion, though there are enough Cole Porter tunes sung and enough wiggles from Marilyn to keep the movie from imploding. Marilyn is charming and sexy. Yves in his first English speaking role is debonair and very French. Wilfred Hyde-White offers a likable performance in a supporting role. If you can live with the plot making absolutely no sense, then you should be able to handle this uneven attempt at being a screwball comedy.The film's cast included Tony Randall and Wilfrid Hyde-White in supporting roles, and spotlighted Milton Berle, Gene Kelly, and Bing Crosby in cameo appearances as themselves.