My Ten Favorite Marilyn Monroe Movies

Today is Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday!  To celebrate, I'm sharing this list of my ten favorite Marilyn movies.

1. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)  Three women (Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable) pool their resources to rent a swanky apartment so they can date rich men and each marry a millionaire.  The only problem is, they keep falling in love with guys who aren't rich.  It's sweet and funny and quirky -- and the first Marilyn Monroe movie I showed to my kids!  Marilyn's character is the funniest of the trio, especially her running gag about needing to wear thick glasses but thinking they make her look too studious and unglamorous... but when she doesn't wear them, mishaps always ensue.

2. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)  Singer-dancer-friends Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy (Jane Russell) take an ocean voyage to Europe just for funsies.  Their steps are dogged by a private detective hired by Lorelei's fiance's father, who is convinced Lorelei is trapping his son in a disastrous marriage.  The girls sing, dance, and dodge would-be suitors.  Marilyn's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" scene really is as iconic as you've been told.

3. Monkey Business (1952) A chemist (Cary Grant) tests an age-reversing elixir on himself and his wife (Ginger Rogers), with hilarious results.  I'm not sure why this movie isn't better known, because it's really funny.  Marilyn only has a small role, as the chemist's boss's secretary, but she's good fun while she's onscreen.

4. Some Like it Hot (1959) Two male jazz musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) witness a mob hit and try to hide out in an all-female jazz band by disguising themselves as women.  Absolutely nobody in their right minds would ever mistake Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon for women, which makes the entire thing ridiculous and genuinely funny.  Marilyn Monroe sings with the jazz band, and of course she winds up in a romance with Tony Curtis -- and the funniest part of the whole movie, for me, is Tony Curtis's Cary Grant impression.

5. The Seven Year Itch (1955) When a bored and imaginative man's (Tom Ewell) wife and kids flee New York City for the summer, he begins romanticizing what could happen with the cute girl (Marilyn Monroe) in a nearby apartment.  She sees him only as a friend, too old to be her boyfriend, and nothing serious ever happens between them, no matter how hard he imagines it will.  My husband and I can never mention Rachmaninoff without quoting this movie.

6. Don't Bother to Knock (1952) A lonely pilot (Richard Widmark) pursues a relationship with a sexy babysitter (Marilyn Monroe) who works at the hotel where he lives, only to slowly realize she is a very scary woman.  It's so cool seeing both Widmark and Monroe playing against type in this excellent noir film.

7. There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) A showbusiness family endures ups and downs over the years, including one son's romance with a singer (Marilyn Monroe).  This is one of those movies that is mostly just enough plot to string together a lot of really great musical numbers, but I like that kind of movie so long as there is a legitimate reason for the musical numbers to take place -- like in this movie, where they are the family's bread and butter.

8. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) One of the most famous noir films ever, and deservedly so.  A lot of desperate characters work together to pull off a big heist, but justice hunts them down relentlessly.  Marilyn Monroe has a very small part here as the girlfriend-on-the-side of the heist's mastermind (Louis Calhern), and she deftly steals scenes right out from under him.

9. Niagara (1953)  Technicolor film noir masterpiece about two married couples visiting Niagara Falls.  Newlyweds (Jean Peters and Casey Adams/Max Showalter) befriend an older couple (Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Monroe) whose marriage is deteriorating, with disastrous consequences.  I have a love-hate relationship with this movie, but I love it enough to add it to this list, anyway.

10. The Misfits (1961) A divorcee (Marilyn Monroe), an aging cowboy (Clark Gable), a bronco buster (Montgomery Clift), a pilot (Eli Wallach), and a landlady (Thelma Ritter) form a found family of sorts because none of them really quite fit in with anyone else.  This is mostly remembered today as the final finished film for both Gable and Monroe, and it's not exactly a pleasant movie to watch.  But it's a really fascinating bunch of character studies, if you like those.

How many of these have you seen?  Do you have any favorites that aren't on this list?

This post is my contribution to the Marilyn Monroe -- 100th Birthday Blogathon hosted by Kristen at Hoofers and Honeys this weekend.

Love blogathons and blog parties?  Check out my Upcoming Blog Events page every now and then to find links to all the events I plan to host or participate in.  There are lots of great events happening this month in particular!

My Ten Favorite New-to-Me Movies of 2024

Here we are again, ready to reminisce over all the movies we've watched in the past year and figure out which ones we liked best.  If you've done a similar post this year, leave a link in the comments so I can check out what your favorites were!

If you want to see my past lists, I've got ten years' worth at the bottom of this page.  Meanwhile, here are my favorite ten new-to-me movies that I watched last year!

1.  Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter One (2024)  A variety of people have experiences in the Old West, many of them in or around the fictional town of Horizon.  It's a sprawling epic with lots of storylines and little or no closure to any of them, and I'm somewhat obsessed with it.  So much of it pleases me, from the authentic historical details to the filmography to the storytelling.  (I could do without the scene with nudity or the implied sex scene, though.  It's not a family friendly movie.)

2.  The Train (1964)  A bitter and disillusioned member of the French Resistance (Burt Lancaster) helps sabotage a train filled with precious pieces of French artwork that an equally bitter Nazi officer (Paul Scofield) is desperately trying to steal away from Paris before the Allies arrive.  My son is particularly pleased with all the very real train-related details, and I'm pleased by all the cool stunts Lancaster does.

3.  Murder on the Orient Express (1974)  Even though Hercule Poirot is not played by Peter Ustinov or Kenneth Branagh (my two favorite Poirots), but instead by Albert Finney (who gets a bit shouty), this is still such a fun time.  That's mainly thanks to the amazing cast: Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, Richard Widmark, Michael York... are you drooling yet?  What a lineup, huh?

4.  The Man from the Alamo (1953)  A Texan (Glenn Ford) is elected to leave the Alamo to warn the people of his town that something bad is about to befall them.  By the time he reaches the town, it's too late, and everyone assumes he ran away from the Alamo because he's a coward.  This makes him angry and vengeful, and the storyline took a few turns that surprised me, which I enjoyed.

5.  Emma (1996 -- Kate Beckinsale)  Yes, it took me this long to finally see this adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel.  I was surprised how much I liked it -- it's never going to rival the other 1996 version that stars Gwyneth Paltrow, but I liked it a lot better than the 2009 and 2020 versions.

6.  The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)  A bunch of military misfits are brought together to stop the Nazis during WWII.  Yes, that premise has been used oodles of times.  But this movie brings some fresh fun to it -- and it's based on a real people and real incidents, which bumps the whole thing up a notch.  I'm particularly fond of how Henry Cavill keeps trading up for better and cooler coats.

7.  Love Crazy (1941) A woman (Myrna Loy) suspects her husband (William Powell) is cheating on her and decides to get a divorce.  Her husband pretends to be mentally ill so she can't divorce him.  I'm not usually a big fan of screwball comedies, but I love Loy and Powell together, and this one never gets daffy enough to annoy me.

8.  Anastasia (1956)  A con artist (Yul Brynner) uses a mentally unstable young woman (Ingrid Bergman) to try to convince the world that the Russian princess Anastasia is still alive.  It's acerbic and twisted and melodramatic... and a lot more like the animated movie Anastasia (1997) than I'd expected.

9.  Christmas in the Air (2017)  A widower (Eric Close) who designs and makes toys hires a professional planner (Catherine Bell) to help him juggle his Christmastime family activities and work commitments so he won't disappoint his kids by forgetting anything important, but will also be able to help his brother land a big contract for their family-owned toy company.  Yes, it's a Hallmark movie.  Yes, I will willingly watch it again.

10. My Cousin Rachel (1952)  A wealthy young man (Richard Burton) becomes obsessed with his cousin's widow (Olivia de Havilland) because he's convinced she killed his cousin.  And then he's convinced she didn't.  And he loves her.  But he hates her.  But she loves him.  But she might be trying to kill him.  Come on, it's a very young and toothsome Richard Burton growling at a middle-aged and gorgeous Olivia de Havilland -- that's all you really need to know.

My Ten Favorite New-to-Me Movies of 2023

Here we are at the end of another year, the assigned time for rounding up lists of favorites in various categories.  I'll be posting my favorite reads from 2023 on my book blog on Tuesday, but today, it's time to talk about my top ten favorite movies I saw for the first time over the past year!

1. Fort Dobbs (1958)  A man on the run from the law (Clint Walker) rushes a pioneer woman (Virginia Mayo) and her feisty son (Richard Eyer) to the safety of a cavalry fort during a Comanche uprising.  I watched this movie over and over this year -- it's everything I want in a western.  Heroic and honorable hero and heroine, real danger and real courage, and a found family, with great dialog and intelligent characters.  And a few surprises!  Good, good stuff.

2. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)  A thief (Chris Pine) tries to rescue his daughter (Chloe Coleman) from a conman (Hugh Grant) with the help of a warrior (Michelle Rodriguez), a wizard (Justice Smith), and a guerilla (Sophia Lillis).  Another exceedingly smart script that delights me.  This movie manages to feel like a bunch of teens playing D&D while also being way smarter and more well-plotted than I ever expected.

3. Blackbeard's Ghost (1968)  A track coach (Dean Jones) accidentally awakens the ghost of the dread pirate Blackbeard (Peter Ustinov), who attempts to help the local track team win over long odds in a bid to find eternal peace.  This is a resoundingly funny and adorable movie.  

4. New in Town (2009)  A high-powered executive (Renee Zellweger) from Miami arrives in Minnesota to shut down a factory, only to fall in love with the workers, the town, and the union representative (Harry Connick, Jr.).  I avoided this movie for over a decade because I thought it was going to make fun of Minnesotans and Midwesterners, but it doesn't.  The love story is actually remarkably charming and natural, too.

5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)  Indy (Harrison Ford) tries to stop a former Nazi (Mads Mikkelsen) from traveling back in time.  Thought I was going to be disappointed by it, but I wasn't, which makes me really happy.

6. The Boys in the Boat (2023) True story about a rowing team of poor boys from Washington state who defy long odds and go to the Olympics.  Absolutely a feel-good movie in the best possible way.  It was an uplifting, pro-American, pro-hard work movie that felt like it could have been made in the '80s.  Or the '60s.  Really good stuff.

7. Howl's Moving Castle (2004) A young woman (Emily Mortimer) falls afoul of a witch (Lauren Bacall) and gets turned into an old woman (Jean Simmons).  She then encounters a mercurial wizard (Christian Bale) and his fire demon (Billy Crystal) and befriends them, with lots of adventures and a love story ensuing.  I read the book for the first time this year too, and I like them both about equally.

8. Lady in the Lake (1946)  Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) tries to figure out who murdered a woman and dumped her body in a lake.  Yes, it's gimmicky -- the whole thing is shot in "first person" as if the camera is Marlowe -- but the storytelling is strong anyway.  I love the Raymond Chandler book more, but this is one of the Marlowe movies I like well enough to keep a copy for my shelves.

9. Rachel and the Stranger (1948)  A widowed pioneer (William Holden) marries a bondservant (Loretta Young) so she can take care of his house and son without impropriety, but when his old friend (Robert Mitchum) comes for a visit and shows interest in her himself, the pioneer has to decide just how married he really wants to be.  It's basically a pioneer romcom, and I didn't like it much the first time I watched it, but it kept rattling around in my head until I rewatched it, and I liked it much better then.

10. Botany Bay (1952)  Alan Ladd falls afoul of another sadistic sea captain, just like he did in Two Years Before the Mast (1946).  You'd think he'd learn!  This time, the captain (James Mason) actually keelhauls Ladd's character.  Twice.  Um, yes.  Not fun.  At least, not if you're a Ladd fan!  But it all turns out okay.

A few fun stats from my movie-watching in 2023:

Total movies watched: 137

New-to-me movies watched: 26

Movies re-watched: 111

Movies seen in the theater: 11

Movies watched more than twice this year: Fort Dobbs (6), Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (3)

Month with the most movies watched: July (19)

Month with the least movies watched: June (3)

Number of Alan Ladd movies watched: 9

"How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953)

Three beautiful models, Loco (Betty Grable), Schatze (Lauren Bacall), and Pola (Marilyn Monroe), are tired of dating losers and deadbeats who are cute or fun, but can't support a wife in style.  They concoct a fool-proof plan to land wealthy and wonderful husbands: pool all their money and rent a swanky place in Manhattan with an address that will attract rich men.  

That makes them sound like mercenary gold-diggers, I know.  And, that's what they want to be.  But all three are actually nice, kind, lovely girls who have convinced themselves that rich men are the best men, and that they deserve the best men.  So, they sublet a penthouse, pawn most of its furniture to pay for really nice clothes, and set out to catch some rich husbands.

Loco catches a grim businessman (Fred Clark) who invites her to a weekend at his lodge... which she thinks means a big meeting of some club like the Elks, but turns out to be his remote hunting lodge in New England.  Things go from bad to worse, as it turns out he's married, and Loco has to find a way to disentangle herself from the would-be Lothario.  In the process, she falls for a forest ranger (Rory Calhoun) even though he's not rich.

Schatze sets her sights on a wealthy widower (William Powell) and seems to have the best chances of getting married to a millionaire... but there's this scruffy guy (Cameron Mitchell) who keeps crossing her path.  She really likes him, but he seems to have no job or prospects, so she insists she can't fall for him.

Pola has such bad eyesight, she has to wear very thick glasses, but she thinks they make her look ugly, so she refuses to wear them when men are around.  Instead, she fumbles her way through life, running into things and wondering what the men she dates actually look like.  She gets involved with a man who says he's an oil tycoon (Alexander D'Arcy), but is actually a fraud, and it's only a lucky accident that keeps her out of his clutches and lets her meet a man on the run from the IRS (David Wayne) who turns out to be her thick-glasses-wearing soulmate.

By the end of the movie, Loco, Schatze, and Pola have all found husbands, some rich and some not, but all good men who love them.  The storyline could have devolved into tawdry or mean humor, but it stays frothy and light instead.  I watched this with my kids a few months ago, and they all laughed a good deal over it.

If you love 1950s fashion and style, this movie is an absolute visual feast.  The girls all have amazing costumes and the sets are a treat.  

Is this movie family friendly?  Mostly.  That married guy does take Pola off to his hunting lodge for a weekend alone, which she is scandalized to discover -- she refuses to sleep with him, but there's some dialog in that part especially that some people might find too risqué for kids.  It's all very oblique, so I didn't have a problem showing the movie to my own kids (and, in fact, I think it's good for tween/teen girls to know that it is not okay for a guy to try to trick a girl into being alone with him, and that it IS okay for the girl to object and do what she can to stay away from him).

This review is my contribution to the Betty Grable Blogathon hosted this weekend by Taking Up Room.

My Ten Favorite Noir Films -- 2019 Update

Like my new list of favorite western films, the list of my favorite noir films has changed a lot since I first posted one six years ago, all because of one certain actor.

I mean, how was I NOT going to love Alan Ladd when the majority of his films are in my two favorite genres?  It was inevitable.

Anyway.  Here is my current list of ten favorite noir films!  Titles linked to my reviews where applicable.

1. Laura (1944) While solving the murder of beautiful Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) falls in love with her memory. The most haunting murder mystery of all time.

2. This Gun for Hire (1942) A remorseless killer-for-hire (Alan Ladd) teams up with a singing magician (Veronica Lake) to help the government stop bad guys from selling American military secrets to the enemy. This is the movie that turned Ladd into a star, and it's not hard to see why -- he's riveting.

3. Dead Again (1991) A kindhearted PI (Kenneth Branagh) tries to help an amnesiac (Emma Thompson) remember who she is, only to learn that they may have been intimately linked to each other in a past life.  This is a twisty thriller involving reincarnation and it never fails to thrill me, even though I obviously don't believe reincarnation is a real thing.

4. The Great Gatsby (1949) F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic story gets a film noir twist. A successful gangster (Alan Ladd) buys a new house across the water from an old flame (Betty Field) whose cousin (Macdonald Carey) just happens to be Gatsby's next-door neighbor. I've yet to see another portrayal of Gatsby as haunting and heartfelt as Ladd's.

5. To Have and Have Not (1944) Fisherman Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) gets tangled up with a wandering woman (Lauren Bacall) and a bunch of anti-Nazi French patriots during WWII. Loosely based on characters from the Ernest Hemingway novel by the same title.

6. The Blue Dahlia (1946) A weary veteran (Alan Ladd) returns home and finds his wife (Doris Dowling) is cheating on him with a nightclub owner (Howard da Silva). When she turns up dead, he's the prime suspect. The nightclub owner's wife (Veronica Lake) tries to help him solve the murder. It's the only original screenplay written by my favorite author, Raymond Chandler, and its dialog sizzles delightfully.

7. The Big Sleep (1946) PI Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) takes a case for a wealthy family with a lot of secrets. Pairs Bogart again with the love of his real life, Lauren Bacall, and is based on the novel by my favorite author, Raymond Chandler.

8. LA Confidential (1997) Three Hollywood cops (Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and Guy Pearce) wrestle with corruption, vice, murder, and conspiracy. One of the most intricately plotted movies ever, with all kinds of disparate strands woven together to form a dazzling whole.

9. Road to Perdition (2002) A hitman (Tom Hanks) takes his son (Tyler Hoechlin) on the run, seeking vengeance for the brutal murder of his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and other son. Brilliant acting from all involved, including Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig.

10. Brick (2005) High school loner Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) investigates the murder of the girl he may have loved, discovering a teenage underworld in the process. One of the most creative movies I've ever seen.

NOTE:  Dead Again, LA Confidential, Road to Perdition, and Brick are all rated R.  With good reason.  Proceed with caution.

"The Big Sleep" (1946)

What do you get when you take a novel written by Raymond Chandler, get William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett to cowrite the screenplay, tap Howard Hawks to direct it, then cast top-of-his-game Humphrey Bogart as the lead, with brand-new starlet Lauren Bacall as the love interest?

You get magic, that's what you get.  Hard-boiled, wise-cracking magic.

Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) gets hired by a frail millionaire (Charles Waldron) to stop someone from blackmailing him.  Supposedly, he's being blackmailed because his younger daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers) has racked up some gambling debts.  Supposedly, all he wants is for Marlowe to stop the blackmail.

Supposedly, this will be neat and easy.

But folks, this is film noir at its finest.  And we all know that there ain't nothing neat and easy about life inside a noir movie.  Nothing whatsoever.

The blackmailer turns out to run a lending-library of dirty books.  (This is only marginally referenced, and Marlowe in the movie never sees any of the books.)  The blackmailer gets shot.  Someone else gets their car pushed off a pier with them still in it.  Someone else gets shot.  People get beaten up, slapped, shot at, killed, and we find out that one character at the center of the plot has been dead all along, since before Marlowe ever got called in to not-find them.

It's twisted and twisty.  It's also beautiful, brilliant, and brutal.  I love it.  It ought to be a lot higher on my favorites list than it is.  Maybe I'll bump it up a notch or twenty.

At the center of all the mayhem stands Philip Marlowe, a knight in grimy armor who follows his own code of morality and justice.  Defiant, wise, hopeful, fatalistic Philip Marlowe, the finest hardboiled detective to ever trade witty retorts for bullets.  Bogart brings him to life beautifully, though he's a little different than the Marlowe in the books.  A little softer, and yet a little less emotional, somehow.  But anyway, Bogart puts in a strong performance.  It's no wonder his co-star married him.

In my review for To Have and Have Not (1944), I talked about how great the chemistry was between Bogart and Bacall, who had just met on that film's set and were falling in love.  Their chemistry sizzles here as well, though it didn't originally have quite so much room to sizzle.  There are actually two different versions of this movie!  The original had a lot less of Bacall's character, Vivian.  I haven't watched the original yet, though it's included on my DVD (it was shown to test audiences, then changed to the final form before release) just because I love the scenes between Marlowe and Vivian, but I imagine it follows the book more faithfully, in which Marlowe does not fall for Vivian at all.

Anyway, To Have and Have Not was a huge hit, and audiences wanted more of Bogart and Bacall together, so they actually went back and filmed some new scenes with the two of them, which then got spliced into the movie, replacing a few other scenes.  The couple got married in between the main filming and the pick-ups, but their onscreen sparkage didn't suffer any the way it often does when costars get married.  They're flirty and fantastic and fun.

One of the best things about this movie is the dialog.  A lot of it comes directly from the book, and all of it is very, very snappy.  Wisecracks, witty comebacks, double-entendres, and quips riddle the script, and Hawks continues his habit of letting (encouraging?) his stars step on each others' lines to keep the fast-paced dialog zinging along.  It's quite brilliant, and quite funny.  I watched it with Cowboy the other night, and he laughed aloud several times, which is quite something for a serious noir film.  (I laughed too, don't get me wrong -- but I've seen it many times, so I knew when the funny bits were coming.  He didn't.)

Is this movie family friendly?  There's violence, including shooting and brawling.  There's stuff about gambling, people in peril, lots of smoking, some drinking, poison and blackmail, the implication that one character was drugged, and the implication that one character had pictures taken of her with no clothes on.  No cussing, no bedroom scenes.  A few smooches.  It's probably fine for teens, but not younger viewers, and kids wouldn't necessarily appreciate its finer points, anyway.

"Designing Woman" (1957)

Happy birthday to one of my favorite actresses, Lauren Bacall!  Today would have been her 94th birthday!

To celebrate, I rewatched Designing Woman for the first time in almost twenty years.  Don't take that number to mean that I don't like this movie much -- far from it!  The truth is, I saw this at a friend's house when I was in college, and I really, really dug it... but it wasn't available on video.  Also, I was a poor college student who couldn't buy every movie she liked.

I'm no longer a poor college student, but I still don't have enough money to buy every movie I like :-(  However, I DO have enough to buy quite a few, especially if I find them used at the thrift store or the local used book/movie store.  (And sometimes online too, yes.)  And a few months ago, I found a Lauren Bacall 4-pack of movies on DVD.  I already had two of them, but I was so excited to find Designing Woman at last that I bought the whole set just to get it.  I held onto it until just the right time for a rewatch, which turned out to be this weekend, in honor of her birthday.

Designing Woman is a gender-swapped Cinderella story.  One of the things that makes it funny is that the guy in the story doesn't realize it's a gender-swapped version until about a quarter of the way through the film.  I really love what this movie has to say about modern gender assumptions, women in the workforce, and the difficulty of striking a balance between personal life and work.  Those themes are just as relevant today as they were when the film was made 51 years ago, which is part of why it works so well still.

The other part, of course, is that the main characters are played by Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck, both of whom could elevate any ordinary script into something delightful.

But this isn't an ordinary script.  This is a quirky, smart, sharply witty script with class and charm and sizzle.  You can tell from the opening scene that this is a story that doesn't take itself entirely seriously.  How can you tell that?

Easy.  The first scene has Mike (Gregory Peck) breaking the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience as he explains that he's here to fill us in on the truth about the infamous goings-on up in New York City not too long ago.  Definitely quirky.

Marilla (Lauren Bacall) then gets her chance to assure us she'll be sharing her side of the story as well.  So do Lori (Delores Gray) and Zachary (Tom Helmore) and Maxie (Mickey Shaughnessy).  Throughout the rest of the film, these five characters will give us their thoughts on the story via voice-overs, some of which make me laugh more than the regular dialog.

It all starts in California at a raucous party where sportswriter Mike buys drinks for everyone in sight.  He's just won more than a thousand dollars betting on a golfing tournament, and he's feeling pretty good about himself.

The next morning, he's feeling much the reverse.  Especially when he realizes he can't remember if he filed his story about the tournament with the big newspaper in New York that has made him fairly famous.  He also discovers he only has a few dollars in his pocket -- what happened to that thousand?

Mike runs into a chatty woman by his hotel's pool -- she insists he gave her $700 the night before.  He imagines what that money might have been for and tries to elude her.  But she's persistent.  Finally, she manages to explain to him that she helped him write an article for his newspaper and file it, and he paid her for her assistance.  But she doesn't feel she ought to keep that much money, as surely one little newspaper article can't be worth that much.

He insists she keep it, she insists she can't, and they finally decide to just spend all of it together over the next couple of days before they both have to fly back  to NYC, where they both live and work.

Two days stretches into two weeks, and one quickie wedding later, they're flying back to New York as man and wife.

Mike is excited about the prospect of introducing his new wife to his well-paid, high-flying life.  He knows she's a working girl with a job in the clothing industry and assumes she shares a tiny flat with a friend and will be happy and excited to move in with him.  He's sure his apartment has plenty of room for two, plus whatever bits of furniture and clothes she brings with her.

Yes, Mike is convinced he's Prince Charming and has rescued Cinderella from her lowly city life.

It comes as quite a shock to him when he discovers that nope, she's a wealthy, glamarous, in-demand fashion designer with an apartment that could swallow his whole.  She has sophisticated friends, wears chic clothes, dines well, and is generally so high up the social ladder that they've never met because his associates are beneath hers.  (The whole film was dreamed up by costume designer Helen Rose, and it includes a vast variety of gorgeous '50s clothes.  I could devote a whole blog post to the costumes alone.  Maybe someday I will.)

In other words, she's Princess Charming and he's Cinderelliot.  He takes this reversal remarkably well, all things considered.  He doesn't seem to spend much time obsessing over the fact that his wife is better-paid than he is.  But he clashes with her over her friends, going so far as to make crass assumptions about the sexual orientation of choreographer Randy Owens (Jack Cole, actual choreographer for the film).  The moviemakers upend those expectations too -- Randy Owens may dance like a loony bird, but he has a wife and football-player sons and ends up saving the day at the very end of the film with some inventive fighting-ballet.  (Sorry, probably should've said Spoiler Alert there.)

Mike keeps publishing articles about a mobster who is fixing prizefights.  The mobster doesn't like this.  Mike shrugs off his threats at first, but eventually, his editor convinces him to go into hiding until he's gathered enough evidence for the authorities to step in and take the mobster down.  Mike has a big fight with Marilla right before he leaves -- she found a picture of Lori (Delores Gray), an old flame of Mike's, and thinks he's still carrying on with her on the side.  Mike doesn't tell Marilla where he's going, or what danger he's in, he just leaves, taking along an ex-fighter named Maxie (Mickey Shaughnessy) who is permanently punch-drunk.

Maxie is strange and endearing and as loyal as a bulldog.  He protects Mike against anyone who looks cross-eyed at them.  And the funniest part of the film, to me, comes along while Mike and Maxie are holed up in a hotel, but I won't spoil that bit for you.  Just know that it makes me laugh aloud.

Of course, everything gets resolved eventually.  Marilla's friends help Mike beat the mobsters, Marilla and Mike make up, and the whole film winds up with the main characters assuring us they're all perfectly happy now... or as happy as they can be.

Especially Maxie, the boxer, who's making a come-back, you know.

If Bacall seems a little less than sparkly in this film, I chalk that up to the fact that her real-life husband, Humphrey Bogart, was dying of cancer while they filmed this; he died before it was released.  Bacall more ascerbic and serious than cute and flirty through much of the film, but the chemistry between her and Gregory Peck more than makes up for this.  The two became lifelong friends while filming this movie, and their genuine affection for each other shines.

This is one of those movies where I get a big kick out of spotting familiar faces in small roles.  Dean Jones (That Darn Cat!, The Love Bug, Clear and Present Danger) has an uncredited bit part as a stage hand. 

Edward Platt (The Chief from Get Smart) pops up as a mobster.  Richard Deacon (Mel on The Dick van Dyke Show) has a small role as another newspaperman.  But my favorite, by far, is Chuck Connors, whom I love so much as Lucas McCain on The Rifleman, though you  might know him better as the dad in Old Yeller.  He's playing a heavy here, but he's still great fun.

Is this movie family friendly?  Yes.  Marilla does have a habit of nibbling on Mike's ear, and there's a bit of light innuendo here and there that should fly over the heads of kiddos.  No bad language.  A little mild violence in the form of fistfighting.  Cigarette smoking throughout, some alcohol consumption.  I would let my kids watch this.

This review is my contribution to the Second Lauren Bacall Blogathon hosted by Crystal at In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood.  Follow this link to see the list of all the blogathon entries and celebrate this remarkable, versatile actress!

Answers to the Classic Hollywood Actors Name Game

Here are the answers to the Classic Hollywood Actors Name Game I posted last week, and everyone's scores.  Thanks for playing!  Here are the answers:

1. Archibald Leach = C. Cary Grant

2. John Carter = H. Charlton Heston

3. Virginia McMath = G. Ginger Rogers

4. Issur Demsky = E. Kirk Douglas
(Who will be 100 next month!!!!!)

5. Frances Gumm = D. Judy Garland

6. Betty Perske = B. Lauren Bacall

7. Marion Morrison = J. John Wayne

8. Norma Mortenson = F. Marilyn Monroe

9. Roy Scherer = A. Rock Hudson

10. Ruby Stevens = I. Barbara Stanwyck

Thanks for playing, everyone!  Here are your scores:

Phyl -- 8
Robert -- 8
Rose -- 5
Ashley Stangl -- 2
MovieCritic -- 2
The Elf -- 2
Naomi Sarah -- 1