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Let's Make Love [DVD]

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The drama that took place away from the set of Let's Make Love -- Marilyn's affair with Montand -- was infinitely more interesting than the film itself. Monroe and Montand shared a few words. Dallinger's close relationships with Hollywood's elite gave him unprecedented access to moments like this. Directed by George Cukor, Let's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy produced by Jerry Waldfrom a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller. The movie also stars Tony Randall. Vitacco-Robles, Gary (2014). Icon: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe Volume 2 1956 TO 1962 & Beyond. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593937751. However, considering Marilyn's increasingly fragile state and growing tendency to disengage herself from everyday existence, the relationship with Montand was a destructive event in her life.

After the movie wrapped, Monroe and Montand embarked on a torrid public affair that led Montand's wife, Simone Signoret, to say famously, "If Marilyn is in love with my husband, it proves she has good taste." 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. From the beginning issues arose with the film. Monroe, although enthusiastic about Montand, did not want to make the film and the original screenwriter had reservations about the cast. Despite being offered the role and having found success with his one-man show, Montand did not speak English. This led to enormous stress as he worked to understand the lines he was speaking through translation. Monroe, at this point in her career, had developed a reputation (beyond Hollywood) for oftentimes being late to set, forgetting her lines, and deferring to her coach over the director. However, some reports state [ citation needed] that this was not true during the filming of Let's Make Love, although she and Cukor did not have the best relationship. Neither star was satisfied with the script and production was shut down for over a month by two Hollywood strikes: first by the Screen Actors Guild and then the Writers Guild of America. [5] Marilyn does look very comfortable and relaxed on the screen. But, at times she appears distracted.(Probably George Cukors uneven direction) There is something a little charming about the whole production. The musical score will grow on you and "Incurably Romantic" is very well done. This film was nominated for an Oscar for best musical score. I also loved the fantasy sequence with Yves and MM in the board room on the table where she is knitting with gold yarn. She even makes that chore look sexy!After the film was completed, Montand broke off his affair with Marilyn. Apparently, he had no intention of leaving Simone Signoret. 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. I liked the musical numbers, and watching Yves' face do all its rubbery wrinkling numbers. He may have been a great actor because he could put on so many different expressions, but his best movie was the one where he's trying to run for office in a crooked Banana Republic (sorta like our present government), a Cost-Grava film. No one's funny in this movie. Comic legend Milton Berle can't hope to save this film with his small part, ditto with dancing legend Gene Kelly's cameo, nor any of the other cast. Monroe herself, as appealing as she is, can't salvage a blase script like this turkey.

The musicals are ghastly, the production is weak and the plot is sketchy; only the performances try to save 'Let's Make Love's' face. I would say the best actor in the movie would be Wilfred Hyde White, who mouths the line "You made a terrible/risky decision by mortgaging your house for this (to save his theater)" to the theater owner. I would add that George Cukor made a terrible decision of getting big actors such as Monroe and choosing such a script for them". 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. 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.The new PR man Coffman (Tony Randall) has been hired to keep his tycoon boss, the seventh generation French billionaire Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand), out of the news. Coffman reports to his immediate boss, business manager John Wales (Wilfred Hyde-White), that he read in Variety a new off-Broadway musical is opening that is spoofing a number of celebrities such as Elvis, Maria Callas, and the thin-skinned publicity shy womanizing bachelor Jean-Marc Clement. To see if they can soften the show’s parody and show that Clement has a sense of humor, Coffman takes Clement unannounced to a rehearsal of the show. As soon as Clement sees the busty Amanda (Marilyn Monroe), he decides he wants her in the same authoritarian way he’s accustomed to always getting what he wants–as he believes people respect and obey him for his money. He’s mistaken by the casting director and everyone else at the show, including Amanda, for a Clement look-alike, as they assume he’s trying out for the part. When he sees Amanda can’t stand the snobby Clement and is not driven to meet a wealthy man, he pretends to be an out-of-work actor trying out for that part. It’s hard to believe no one in a show lampooning Clement would recognize him, but there you have the lame plot and might as well except it for the sake of the film. Montand is cool and unflappable. I can believe he wants Marilyn, but I can't believe that this is how he would meet her. Miss Monroe's coach on this one was Paula Strasberg, her make-up man, Whitey Snider. Her then husband, Arthur Miller, was present for much of the shooting and is reported to have written additional dialogue for Marilyn. The affair itself did not destroy Marilyn's marriage with Miller. It was merely another step toward its gradual disintegration.

Monroe at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1960 during the filming of Let's Make Love, co-written by Monroe's then-husband, Arthur Miller.Despite the real-life sparks generated by the Monroe-Montand liaison, Let's Make Love is a distinctly unengaging musical comedy and remains Marilyn's weakest starring vehicle. Marilyn had seen Montand in his one-man show on Broadway and was taken by his Gallic charm. The Millers were eager to befriend the Montands, and the four were often seen together when Let's Make Love first went into production in mid-February of 1960. Wealthy Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand) discovers that he is going to be satirized in a play so he pays a visit to rehearsals. However, he is mistaken for an actor and asked to join the troupe. He does so under the alias of Alexander Dumas so that he can get close to the leading lady, Amanda (Marilyn Monroe). But she already has a boyfriend in the leading man, Tony Danton (Frankie Vaughan). Can Jean-Marc get his girl....? Let's Make Love is a 1960 American musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope. Directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter, and Arthur Miller, the film stars Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, and Tony Randall. It would be Monroe's last musical film performance. These ingredients, though contrived, are far from hopeless. Unfortunately, the slight script makes use of Marilyn's image but not her talent.

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