Let’s
Make Love Still Iffy
By
Kristin Battestella
This slightly notorious 1960 Marilyn Monroe musical
has plenty of big name star power onscreen and off- not to mention Monroe’s undeniable
charisma. Unfortunately, Let’s Make Love is indeed infamous for
all the wrong reasons.
International
millionaire and playboy Jean Marc Clement (Yves Montand) is displeased to hear
from his public relations representative Coffman (Tony Randall) that an
upcoming New York
play will lampoon his hoity toity image along with other celebrities. When he goes to the theatre in protest,
however, Clement is mistaken for an actor auditioning- and gets the job of
parodying himself. To make matters
worse, Clement is smitten with the show’s lead Amanda Dell (Monroe).
He uses Coffman and all his multimillionaire resources to save the
struggling show while wooing Amanda- but she’s seeing the play’s male lead,
Tony (Frankie Vaughn). Will Clement
embrace his loosened up image and win Amanda’s heart?
Well,
director George Cukor (My Fair Lady, The
Philadelphia Story, A Star is Born) has his hands full with screenwriters
Arthur Miller (The Crucible), Norman
Krasna (White Christmas), and Hal
Kanter (The Rose Tattoo) throwing
what seems like a lot of leftovers at the screen. If the talent here came to play, this would be
awesome.
Instead, we start with an old, stale, and unnecessary opening
montage giving the history of the Clement men. They’ve been rich, international playboys for a
long time yadda yadda. The back-story could have come in many faster ways, and
this off putting start doesn’t hold up for today’s audiences. Actually, the
whole opening and battle of the sexes underlining comes off as a poor man’s The Seven Year Itch; the start and stop
journey of the characters is akin to The
Prince and the Showgirl. Let’s Make Love begins with a fun twist,
yes. Unfortunately, the impersonation story is too common, pretentious, and eventually
even asinine in some spots. The script
and pace are too patchy, and the scenes without Monroe drag completely. It’s ironic that her
then husband Miller wrote in more scenes
for Monroe, for
we don’t really see her that much. The conversations,
near slapstick, and misunderstanding circumstances between the stars is
pleasing initially, but the over long two hours and increasing focus on
Clement’s subterfuge lessens the quality.
Is Let’s Make Love meant to be
about the struggling show or Clement softening up? Too many mixed signals and
confusion muddle the mishmash. This isn’t flashy enough to be a show-stopping
musical, but it’s too dry and wannabe melodramatic to be a comedy. If it’s a
romance, then the love triangle is way
out of whack.
Fortunately,
Marilyn Monroe enters Let’s Make Love thirteen
minutes in and lightens the air with “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.” The
breathless delivery and leggy routine sets her apart, both in spite of and
perhaps because of that simple baggy sweater and black tights ensemble. It’s flattering yet still cashmere alluring-
unlike Ann-Margaret in Viva Las Vegas,
which I swear looks like she forgot her pants! Less than two years before Monroe’s death, viewers
might think her personal troubles would hurt her performance, but not in the
numbers here. Truly, she looks very
pretty, kind, and approachable- not an unreachable, dumb goddess. This
struggling actress and student just got out of bed un-styled look further helps
Monroe make men
go down like dominoes. And when she takes that sweater off! What is that- a body stocking? I don’t see the weight talk surrounding Let’s Make Love. She looks classy and
most importantly, real. Of course, there
is retreading towards Monroe’s
usual dumb blonde singing types. However, Mandy is given a bit more intelligence
and meaning on a few new topics and is even getting her diploma. We’re treated to a knitting Marilyn Monroe, a
genuinely innocent- not kitten- and unashamed of the poor acting life
minister’s daughter. Naturally, we are going to like her more than Jean Marc
Clement and his deceptions. Granted, Monroe
does seem tired or unmotivated in some of the later scenes, and I’m not sure
about that green bodysuit. Considering
this script though, who knows what’s going on? Mandy begins as a very smart,
inspiring girl with talent, plans, and dreams- and then…nothing.
Swanky,
swanky, Yves Montand (Wages of Fear)
has the chic. He looks good in a real suit, holds a cigarette in that oh so
suave way, and generally carries himself with a European grace, pimpity, and
class that can’t be matched by today’s surfer boy ‘actors’. Unfortunately, it will
be tough for some contemporary audiences to see past his French accent, and
he’s simply all wrong for Let’s Make
Love. He looks too old and
mismatched for Monroe-
but she seemed to like that sort of thing, indeed. Even when making a joke or attempting to be
casual, Clement feels too pompous and out of touch. It doesn’t feel amusing
within the film and to Americans today, this dude still has a lot of loosening up to do! His initial
mistaken identity at the theater is funny, but it changes to asinine once
Clement claims to be a simple man who happens to be named Alexandre Dumas. His deception is not one of necessity or
endearing ala Tootsie- he’s just
trying to protect his reputation and manipulate an entire cast of people in his
favor. Mandy’s “I’m a louse” mocking of
Clement is spot on. Is it the writing or Montand? Clement’s meant to be wooden, but one wonders
if the originally planned dashing Mr. Gregory Peck learning the err of his ways
wouldn’t have been better. Clement objects to being called a liar, but he clearly
is one who literally brings in guest stars Milton Berle, Bing Crosby, and Gene
Kelly to help him shape up! It doesn’t create any sympathy when Clement tries
to come clean. In fact, the viewer just
wants to fast forward to the big numbers. Otherwise, Let’s Make Love is supposed to be two hours of a guy manipulating,
deceiving, and cruelly revealing his scheme for a woman? WTF? Frankie Vaughn (The Lady is a Square) fairs little better, with his “Hey You with
the Crazy Eyes” Tony Denton spotlight feeling more like a poor, poor man’s Dean
Martin. His hanging all over Monroe also ruins
“Specialization.” Tony Randall (The Odd Couple, Pillow Talk) as
Clement’s everyman press man Coffman is very bemusing and could have been a
great sardonic sidekick where we know he is very
capable. Unfortunately, he steadily disappears for the supposed revelations
of Clement and the purported heart of Let’s
Make Love.
Thankfully,
the early sixties New York
penthouses, fun global décor, richy rich art, and high life visuals looks
smashing! The posh music and ironic jazz scoring is nice as well, with cabaret
styled choreography to match the spiffy stage coloring and lighting designs. Let’s
Make Love is traditionally styled as a musical, yes, yet there are wonderful
hints of something more hep cat than showboat.
There’s lyrical wit and a kinky touch to it all, and the possibilities
are again scarified for, well, I don’t know what. The dance routines lag by the middle of the
picture, and the premise of the play spoofing Elvis and the like isn’t actually
that good when we see the show within a show design and cumbersome moving sets. Some of Monroe’s
costumes also seem unusual choices. Though barely there and lovely, her silver
dress doesn’t seem to fit, nor the inexplicable corset. Fortunately, the pink and
white breezy sheer number and the fantasy montage for the catchy titular
rendition are perfect. At last some
charm and tune from both stars, but she’s going to poke his eye out with that
dress!
The
DVD subtitles will be a must for some in understanding Montand, but onscreen
dialogue won’t help solve the many mixed signals in Let’s Make Love. This is good for fans of the cast or classic film audiences
who like mid century bed pillows type films.
Otherwise, there’s not much reason to look any deeper into this potentially
special musical comedy that ended up not well done, without a lot of musical,
not that much funny, and too much seriousness.
2 comments:
I haven't seen this movie but Marilyn Monroe always played the same roles. ;\ May she rest in peace!
Hi Q! Thanks for visiting and commenting again!
Yes I've reviewed her movies off and on for a few years now as my sister is a fan, and more often than not, most the films and performances are one note. It is tough to tell if it is her, the stereotypes, or the scripts. Sometimes there are hints of other possibilities, but why mess with something fancy when the dough's pouring in? I guess that's all they cared about then and now.
hehe
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