How To Marry A Millionaire (1953)

Okay, I admit it – I love Marilyn Monroe. I’ve never not enjoyed any film I’ve seen her in, so when I sat down to watch this one, I guessed that I would be in for a good time, and I was right. Marilyn shares star billing with two other major stars, namely Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable. They play three single and broke girls in New York City, who are hoping to land rich husbands. None of them however, account for the possibility that true love might get in the way…

This film is full of laughs, and that is mainly down to Monroe, who plays a ditzy blonde. Maybe not a big stretch for the blonde bombshell, but she does play the role perfectly, and I think she looks at her most beautiful in this film. (Check out her scenes in the fuschia coloured gown, and the red swimsuit – wow!). Betty Grable is also hilarious, and looks stunning too. Lauren Bacall plays Schatze, the brains behind their operation, and is probably the least sympathetic of all the characters. It’s impossible not to like the other two, despite their less than honourable intentions, but Schatze is a colder character. But that’s not to say that Bacall doesn’t play her extremely well. She is pursued by both older widow J.D. Hanley (William Powell), and the younger man Tom Brookman (Cameron Mitchell). Pola (Monroe) meets a mysterious man, who she sets off for a romantic rendevouz with, but – due to her refusal to wear her glasses in public! – things don’t quite go according to plan. Loco (Grable) is courted by an unhappily married man (and frankly it’s a mystery as to how he ever found anyone willing to marry him), but a bout of measles looks set to ruin their plans!

The whole film is very funny indeed, and very light hearted. Grable and Monroe both made me laugh out loud on several occasions, and I adored William Powell’s character. Obviously the storyline is pretty fluffy and silly, but it is very entertaining. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it now – Marilyn Monroe was a very talented comic actress, and she shows her skills off perfectly. She’s in good company too – Grable and Bacall nail their parts.

Haven’t seen it yet? Want a good giggle? Give this film a try – you might just love it!

Year of release: 1953

Director: Jean Negulesco

Writers: Nunnally Johnson, Zoe Akins, Dale Eunson, Katherine Albert

Main cast: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, William Powell, Cameron Mitchell

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Dark Passage (1947)

This film noir is one of the four films that real life couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together.  It’s probably the least popular of the four, which seems fair. There’s a lot to enjoy here, but its mainly because of the quality of the cast – the storyline itself – while an interesting premise – builds coincidence upon coincidence, and is hard to take seriously.

The story revolves around Vincent Parry (Bogart), a man who has escaped from prison where he was sent after being convicted of killing his wife.  He intends to find the real killer, while evading the law.  He is helped by beautiful stranger Irene Jansen (Bacall).  However, Parry knows that his face is too familiar and has to undergo plastic surgery to change his appearance.

The first half of the film has Parry narrating things as they happen, and the audience sees things as he would see them.  This means that while Bogart’s familiar voice is present throughout, its not until after Parry has his surgery that we see his face, at which point the story is told from a third person point of view.  I’m guessing that this method of filming was used, rather than using a different actor to play the character before surgery, and then switching to Bogart afterwards – the result is more effective and worked well.

Of course, Bogart had such charisma and that charisma is a large part of what makes this film enjoyable, because truthfully the audience is asked to suspend a lot of disbelief.  Irene Jansen’s reasons for wanting to help Parry are flimsy, and he later takes a cab, the driver of which just happens to want to help Parry (who he has never met before).  The same driver just happens to know a plastic surgeon who can operate on Parry that night (!), and plastic surgery takes 20 minutes, after which Parry is able to walk a long distance back to Jansen’s home.  Irene just happens to have a friend who was a witness against Parry at his trial…and so on and so on.  There is a nice subplot involving a driver who initially picks up Parry after his escape, believing Parry to be a hitch-hiker, which added to the story.

Overall, the star quality in this film makes it worth watching, but the storyline leaves a lot to be required.  Still worth seeing though for fans of the lead actors.

Year of release: 1947

Director: Delmer Daves

Writers: David Goodis (book), Delmer Daves

Main cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead

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Key Largo (1948)

This 1948 gangster/film noir movie has Humphrey Bogart in fine form as Frank McCloud, a world weary ex-soldier who comes to visit the family of a dead comrade at their hotel, only to find that the establishment has been taken over  by a team of gangsters, led by Johny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson).  Bogart’s real life wife, Lauren Bacall plays Nora Temple, the widow of Frank’s friend, and Lionel Barrymore is her father-in-law.  Tensions rise between the hotel owners and Frank, and the gangsters, until events must surely reach a climax…

This is not normally my favourite genre of movie, but the excellent cast make it compelling viewing.  Bogart is superb as Frank, who has already seen too much violence and doesn’t want to get involved in more. Bacall is sultry and sensual as Nora Temple, and Barrymore is just excellent as James Temple.  Edward G. Robinson is also suitably menacing as Johnny, and Claire Trevor as Johnny’s alcoholic girlfriend, deservedly won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her part.

The film is set almost entirely within the hotel, with just a few outdoor scenes, and this serves to crank up the tension.  Throughout most of the film, you can sense the atmosphere between the two parties.

Plotwise, it is actually quite thin – the gangsters want to escape to Cuba, the hotel owners just want to get out of the situation alive, but they don’t want the gangsters to get away with their crimes (which mount up as the film progresses).  The enjoyment of the film comes from the different characters and the dynamic between them.  Acting was generally less subtle and more theatrical when this film was made, but here the subtle nuances and fleeting looks between characters makes this film deeply layered and lends to the claustrophobic atmosphere.

There’s not much more you need to know about the plot – but this is definitely a film worth seeing, as much for the uniformly excellent cast as for the storyline itself.

Year of release: 1948

Director: John Huston

Writers: Maxwell Anderson (play), Richard Brooks, John Huston

Main cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore

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