Sadly Over-hyped

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It's the 50's: everyone is dressed up at work and at home, pitchers of dry martinis are the order of the day, and liberal use of DDT is the best bet for killing aphids on roses. You can't help but smile at some of this stuff. There's nothing terribly amazing about the script in this romantic comedy, which has a couple (Claudette Colbert and Macdonald Carey) divorcing after 20 years of marriage, and a jet-setter and old flame (Zachary Scott) swooping in on her. What's fun is the cast - Colbert is a delight and looks fantastic at age 48, her son-in-law is played by a slender 21-year-old Robert Wagner, and a blonde fortune hunter who appears in a few scenes is played by 25-year-old Marilyn Monroe, right before she became mega-famous. It's light entertainment with a cutesy ending.

Claudette Colbert, Macdonald Carey, Zachary Scott, Robert Wagner, Barbara Bates, and Marilyn Monroe star in "Let's Make it Legal," a 1951 20th Century Fox comedy. It's a fast little black and white film about a divorcing couple, the Hugh Halsworths (Colbert and Carey), their daughter Barbara (Bates) and her new husband Jerry (Wagner).The premise is that the Halsworths are divorcing because Hugh is a compulsive gambler and Miriam, his wife, has had about all she can stand. So they've separated and the divorce is final at midnight. But Hugh is always hanging around, spraying his roses or entering the house on some other excuse.Their daughter is having marital adjustment problems: She loves her mother waiting on her hand and foot and taking care of the new baby, but her husband wants them to have their own place. Barbara hopes her parents will get back together, which Jerry attributes to her selfish motives. In the midst of all this, an old boyfriend of Barbara's (Scott) enters the picture and proposes.This film is of interest due to an early appearance of Marilyn Monroe as a sexy young woman most anxious to meet the very wealthy Victor (Scott). It's also of interest to me because Colbert and Carey play young grandparents - not young people playing characters supposed to be older, but actual young grandparents. You don't see much of that in classic era films. Hugh tells Scott he married Miriam right out of school. (In actuality, Carey was about 38 at this time and Colbert was 48)."Let's Make it Legal" is also of interest as a look at how the studios worked. This isn't a big movie, so it's used as a training ground for two contract players, Wagner and Bates, neither of whom are very good. The studio probably appeased agent Johnny Hyde, who was ambitious for his client Monroe by giving her a small role. They used the film as a vehicle for Colbert, who in Hollywood, though still beautiful, is past her sell by date and relegated to less expensive films, as well as the washed up Scott. They pair her with a B leading man, Carey, whose big success was in television.This isn't a great movie. It's light, it's amusing, it's somewhat dated. Seeing Colbert is always a pleasure and Carey was an amiable actor, Scott an attractive one. Sadly both Bates, who later committed suicide, and Scott suffered from depression. Scott at this point in his career concentrated on stage and television work.Pleasant comedy.

Miriam and Hugh Halsworth's divorce is going to be final after midnight. Hugh, an inveterate gambler, cannot kick the habit, which was one of Miriam's main objections for divorcing the man she married. The two are not bitter about their separation, in fact, they seem to be pretty decent about their split than most couples. Hugh loves to come by his former home to tend the roses he so lovingly cares for, something Miriam would like to see him stop doing.When former beau Victor McFarland, a local man, decides to pay a visit to his hometown, he goes to see Miriam. He has not gotten over the fact she married Hugh instead of him. Now, recently liberated, Miriam reacquaints herself with the man she liked twenty years before. Victor proposes and she finally accepts, but leave it to Hugh, he will not concede defeat. He is up to his former tricks to win Miriam back.A 1951 Twentieth Century Fox comedy which was shown on a classic cable channel recently. Directed by Richard Sale, the comedy with its 77 minutes running time, is fast and frothy enough because of the good pacing the director had the good sense of giving the picture. The screenplay was written by I.A.L. Diamond, a genius for the genre, and Hugh Herbert.The three stars were perfectly cast. Claudette Colbert in her late forties made an excellent Miriam, the woman who could not take anymore of her husband's gambling, but who still loved him. MacDonald Carey was in top form as Hugh, the man fighting to save his marriage. Zachary Scott, suave and debonair, shows up to get between the Halsworths. Robert Wagner and Barbara Bates are seen as the young couple living with her parents. Marilyn Monroe has a small part in the film.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that some future Cultural archaeologist will note the large percentage of timber amongst actors of the late forties and fifties. God knows we had our share in England; Keiron Moore, John Gregson, Richard Pasco, Laurence Harvey, Michael York, but the virus was just as active in Hollywood, John Derek, Wendell Corey, John Ireland, Gary Merrill to name only a handful. Hugh Marlowe even managed to luck into two 'classic' films in the same year (1950), having featured roles in both All About Eve and Twelve O'Clock High. Here we have another in the shape of Macdonald Carey. Sending him in as leading man against Claudette Colbert is like sending in Banksy against Toulouse Lautrec. The poor sap hasn't a chance. You're never wasting your time watching Colbert (well, hardly ever, Texas Lady anyone) but apart from a roster of mostly uncredited 'character' actors she's the only decent thing in this piece of cheese albeit it was co-written by Izzy Diamond and directed by Richard Sale. Robert Wagner is an embarrassment, Barbara Bates a disaster, Zachary Scott walks through it and ... oh the hell with it, cross it off your list.