If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Having not seen this film in over 50 years, I remembered it as a great bore. But I was surprised - just a bit. This is really theater with limited sets and 3 main characters who continually talk with very little physical movement. Not much for a teenager - except that it didn't receive the Breen Hollywood Seal of Approval because of the use of sexy words like virgin, pregnant, and seduce. I, like so many others, had to see this picture ( just like I had to see "The Outlaw"). Unfortunately, nothing really sexy happens and it was a real let down in more then one way.But now, although the story is totally ridiculous (two adult men wanting to marry a 23 year old wisenheimer after just meeting her) I really enjoyed David Niven. He looks great, has the best lines in the film and drinks enormous, unbelievable amounts of alcohol. Poor Maggie McNamara (and I mean poor Maggie who committed suicide at 48) doesn't really look like Audrey Hepburn at all - her close ups are a little scary. This was her first movie after modeling (her figure makes it hard to believe). And her speaking voice is really very unusual and ultimately very annoying (yet she received an Academy nomination). William Holden is totally artificial and although he was 35 at the time he, sadly, looks so much older.So why did I enjoy this. Niven,Niven,Niven and the 50's apartment sets, and the 50's mentality with a little bit of Dawn Addams to boot. My favorite line: Holden- Why are you so preoccupied with sex? McNamara- Isn't it better to be preoccupied than occupied?

Yes, it does seem silly today, the controversy. It almost seems as though they are saying, "Look what we're not afraid to say"; but I don't know, so I won't say they are. But beyond these evil words, is there anything? Yes, but nothing special.It's based on play and thus play-like. Problem? Slight. There is many a flaw in the script. The film drags in places and, in others, borders on the tedious. The character of Cynthia works on no level whatsoever.But there is much good as well. Some nice - and funny - dialogue. Solid performances from the main trio. Holden is good here between much superior Wilders, and McNamara's debut is of quality. The most amusement, however, comes from Niven's schtick - and it is, indeed, amusement. Nothing more, nothing less.Of the title song, then, I won't say a thing.

The problem about censorship is that inevitably it dates. D.H.Lawrence, James Joyce, Gustave Flaubert, Leo Tolstoi were all censored for "Lady Chatterly's Lover", "Ulysses", "Madame Bovary", and "The Kruezer Sonata" when they came out, but today these books seems very run-of-the-mill in terms of their steaminess. The same happens with movies. "The Moon Is Blue" is typical. The hubbub in 1953 was the use of the word "virgin" in the film. Maggie McNamara's seeming willingness to experiment with sex is another reason (although it turns out she is more talk than action). Nowadays this seems to be relatively nothing.Censorship also breeds publicity, and in show business most publicity is good for the sale of tickets to the public. "The Moon Is Blue" had good box office. So much for the efficacy of censorship.Despite some of the favorable comments, most people are bored watching this film now. It was not terrifically funny. Holden and Niven are chums who are rivals for McNamara. Their actions in competition over McNamara now seem witless.One final point. This film was the subject of a plot in an episode of the television series, "M.A.S.H." Hawkeye and B.J. hear about how the censors are against this film, and they have a chance (by trading favors) of seeing it. When they get the film at the 4077th they are both appalled at how unfunny and tame it is. Enough said.

Long before Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks discovered they loved each other atop the Empire State Building, William Holden and Maggie McNamara met on the observation tower of the venerable skyscraper in the film version of the hit Broadway play, "The Moon is Blue." One of the best and most sprightly comedies of the early fifties, Otto Preminger had a fight on his hands when the film went before an aghast Production Code board.The movie makes rather light of a young woman's commitment to chastity, suggests that seduction is an amusing and acceptable pastime for a single male and uses words like "pregnant" and "virgin" offhandedly. The lovely, talkative, self-assured Patty even demands to know the meaning of the charge, by her new boyfriend's barely ex-girlfriend, that she's a "professional virgin." Shocking stuff and approval was denied. Perhaps equally stunning to the Hollywood censors was Preminger's decision to release the film without approval, something he had the clout to do.As it turned out, audiences were able to deal with this explosive material. :) And almost fifty years later, when virtually nothing remains to be said or done on the silver screen, this film retains its charm, humor and attractiveness because a superb trio of actors - William Holden, Maggie McNamara and an irrepressible David Niven, who steals some of the scenes - gives a timeless quality to their sterling performances.The script hews pretty much to the original play with minimal set changes. The dialogue is witty and fast. Preminger knew he had created a gem of a romantic comedy and it's good entertainment today in a world where the values expressed by the characters seem as remote as the social customs of the Neandertals. I hadn't seen the film in decades - I rented it and I'm going to buy a copy. This is a true and timeless classic.By the way, don't skip the trailer that precedes the film. It's very funny.