Rating: 
Summary: Yves Montand est magnifique!
Review: This is a wonderful movie. Reading the reviews, I saw so many put-downs of Yves Montand and I totally disagree. He was a wonderful actor, world-renowned and carries this movie totally. Just because many Americans don't "get it" when it comes to the French does not make him any less talented. This was his movie...HE was the main character, while Marilyn's character is more distant and viewed primarily through Yves' eyes. Marilyn does the best she can with some obvious weight and other issues and the fact that she performed so well even with these problems made me respect her all the more. The flaws in her appearance (like a minor scratch on a diamond)actually gave the film more credibility and made it plausible that a man who had had his fill of perfect plastic beauties would fall in love with her! I do agree she was somewhat distant, but some of that had to do with the script. I think it is hard for some people to accept her in a supporting role at that point in her career and see a Frenchman with the lead. Frankie Vaughn was stunning and ready for Broadway in his Tony Danton role and I do wish they had developed him a little better (there was no dialogue between his character and Montand's which was strange). If you can put any cultural biases aside you are in for a real treat! I do not give it a full five stars due to the technical problems with the film print but it is a jewel.
Rating:
Summary: MARILYN!
Review: THIS MOVIE IS ONLY BEING TALKED ABOUT TODAY DUE TO THE FACT THAT MARILYN MONROE WAS IN IT. THIS IS THE CASE WITH SEVERAL OF HER FILMS. I MEAN IF ANOTHER ACTRESS AHD PLAYED IT WE WOULDN'T EVEN GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT. AND SOME CRITIC'S POINTED OUT THAT MARILYN WAS FAT IN IT,MAYBE SHE WASN'T AS THIN AS IN "BUS STOP" BUT THAT DOESNT MATTER, SHE WAS NOT THAT HEAVY. MARILYN WAS SO UNIQUE AND HAD SUCH A SCREEN PRESENCE. I WOULD SEE THIS FILM FOR TO REASONS,1. THE MUSICAL NUMBERS WHICH SHOW SHE HAD A BETTER VOICE THAN SHE WAS GIVEN CREDIT FOR,AND TWO THE FACT THAT SHE SPEAKS IN HER NATURAL VOICE, THIS IS VER INTERESTING SINCE MOST OF HER CHARACTERS WERE DUMB BLONES, BUT THIS ONE SEEMS A LITTLE SMARTER.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's NOT and say we did!
Review: This wit-less and boring film has only one decent musical number, and otherwise completely wastes its great stars Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand, who both had had much better films to star in. -- A closer look reveals that Marilyn had already been very depressed at this time. Poor scripts calling for dumb blondes acting silly were likely contributors to this great star's sad state. A fan would not want to miss this film, but don't expect a "Seven Year Itch"!
Rating: 
Summary: MM's penultimate film is a cockle doodle-doo
Review: When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement hears a theatre company is going to be roasting him in a satire on celebrities, he goes down to the theatre to see what the hullabaloo is about. There, he sees Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" number, sung by a blonde actress, Amanda Dell with male dancers. He is smitten and because this is a comedy, he is mistaken for a Clement impersonator and hired by Oliver Burton, head of the production. Also, because this is a comedy and an eye-rolling one at that, he takes the name Alexander Dumas. Both Dumas pere and fils were probably churning in their graves at that one. He learns that Amanda doesn't like Clement one bit. "I heard they're going to make a real idiot out of him" she says, also saying of him he's a rich louse. Insulted, he tells her off, but she, clueless of his real identity, praises him by saying it's a perfect impression of Clement, which mollifies him. He tries to get closer to Amanda by trying to get her help on acting technique and asking her out. She on her part is friendly and encouraging, but she's taking night classes to get what would today be a GED. Worse for him, she's the girlfriend of song and dance man Tony Danton, played by Frankie Vaughan, whom he is definitely jealous of. Clement lacks show business talent and through his PR man Alexander Coffman, gets a joke from Lamont, played by ex-Three Stooge Joe Besser, which backfires. Hiring Milton Berle, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly (who play themselves in guest cameos) for comedy, singing, and dancing. The rehearsal for the "Specialization" number is humiliating for Clement. After all, Clement is known as a notorious womanizer, and to his chagrin, he is forced to accompany the line "crow from the barnyard roost" by cockle-doodle-dooing like a real rooster. Others roasted in this number are Maria Callas, Elvis Presley, and pianist Van Cliburn, which is a snapshot of who was big in 1960. The best observation on human nature comes from Coffman, who learning that the theatre has been demanded a year's rent in advance and that the theatre's real estate firm belongs to Clement, asks the bartender for three double bourbons, then goes into this bitter spiel. "Somebody once said that rich people are only poor people with money. Well, he was lying. Rich people aren't people, my friend. Oh, they can be charming, democratic, polite. You can hardly tell them from a human being sometimes. Just be good and sure you don't cross them." Another good insight is a conversation between Coffman and Clement. When people talk to Clement, they don't talk to him, they talk to his money, hence Coffman's calling him "sir." The importance of distinguishing people from their money is noted here. Apart from the Cole Porter number, the other numbers are forgettable. This is far from MM or Yves Montand's most memorable performances. Montand is miscast in this part, and it's understandable why celebrities ranging from Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Yul Brynner, and James Stewart turned it down. All in all, a waste of talent given the cast involved, including Tony Randall, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and director George Cukor. Critics panned this and wrote off Monroe's career, even saying she was putting on some pounds. However, the script, idea, dialogue, lack of likeable characters (except Amanda and Coffman) and lack of oomph are more to blame. MM was trying to breathe life into a movie doomed from the start and did her best. Unfortunately, it didn't save this cockle-doodle-doo of a picture. And Holly from Cool World was inspired enough to sing the title song? Please!
Rating:
Summary: MM's penultimate film is a cockle doodle-doo
Review: When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement hears a theatre company is going to be roasting him in a satire on celebrities, he goes down to the theatre to see what the hullabaloo is about. There, he sees Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" number, sung by a blonde actress, Amanda Dell with male dancers. He is smitten and because this is a comedy, he is mistaken for a Clement impersonator and hired by Oliver Burton, head of the production. Also, because this is a comedy and an eye-rolling one at that, he takes the name Alexander Dumas. Both Dumas pere and fils were probably churning in their graves at that one. He learns that Amanda doesn't like Clement one bit. "I heard they're going to make a real idiot out of him" she says, also saying of him he's a rich louse. Insulted, he tells her off, but she, clueless of his real identity, praises him by saying it's a perfect impression of Clement, which mollifies him. He tries to get closer to Amanda by trying to get her help on acting technique and asking her out. She on her part is friendly and encouraging, but she's taking night classes to get what would today be a GED. Worse for him, she's the girlfriend of song and dance man Tony Danton, played by Frankie Vaughan, whom he is definitely jealous of. Clement lacks show business talent and through his PR man Alexander Coffman, gets a joke from Lamont, played by ex-Three Stooge Joe Besser, which backfires. Hiring Milton Berle, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly (who play themselves in guest cameos) for comedy, singing, and dancing. The rehearsal for the "Specialization" number is humiliating for Clement. After all, Clement is known as a notorious womanizer, and to his chagrin, he is forced to accompany the line "crow from the barnyard roost" by cockle-doodle-dooing like a real rooster. Others roasted in this number are Maria Callas, Elvis Presley, and pianist Van Cliburn, which is a snapshot of who was big in 1960. The best observation on human nature comes from Coffman, who learning that the theatre has been demanded a year's rent in advance and that the theatre's real estate firm belongs to Clement, asks the bartender for three double bourbons, then goes into this bitter spiel. "Somebody once said that rich people are only poor people with money. Well, he was lying. Rich people aren't people, my friend. Oh, they can be charming, democratic, polite. You can hardly tell them from a human being sometimes. Just be good and sure you don't cross them." Another good insight is a conversation between Coffman and Clement. When people talk to Clement, they don't talk to him, they talk to his money, hence Coffman's calling him "sir." The importance of distinguishing people from their money is noted here. Apart from the Cole Porter number, the other numbers are forgettable. This is far from MM or Yves Montand's most memorable performances. Montand is miscast in this part, and it's understandable why celebrities ranging from Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Yul Brynner, and James Stewart turned it down. All in all, a waste of talent given the cast involved, including Tony Randall, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and director George Cukor. Critics panned this and wrote off Monroe's career, even saying she was putting on some pounds. However, the script, idea, dialogue, lack of likeable characters (except Amanda and Coffman) and lack of oomph are more to blame. MM was trying to breathe life into a movie doomed from the start and did her best. Unfortunately, it didn't save this cockle-doodle-doo of a picture. And Holly from Cool World was inspired enough to sing the title song? Please!
Rating:
Summary: Watch it to see MM
Review: With any other actress,this old flick would be silly and boring,but ,as always, Mazza brings it to life.It focuses around a group of stage actors,and Marilyn sings quite a few songs.I thought,in one dance act,Marilyn looked thinner than usual and therefore not as great.
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