Let's Make Love Reviews

Marilyn Monroe's 27th picture was originally intended as a satire of Howard Hughes, but Fox's lawyers must have advised against it, resulting in this mild latter-day version of ON THE AVENUE (1937). Billionaire industrialist Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand) is informed by his attorney (Wilfrid Hyde-White) and public relations man (Tony Randall) that an Off-Broadway show lampooning him is being prepared. Jean-Marc goes to a rehearsal and sees Amanda (Monroe) performing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (one of Monroe's best song renditions). The show has no one to play Jean-Marc's character, and the director thinks he is a look-alike actor come to audition for the part. Naturally, he is hired instantly, and accepts the role to get closer to Amanda. It turns out that Jean-Marc's firm owns the theater building and some of his aides plan to close it down, but the billionaire, who didn't know he owned the place, stops the foreclosure and, through his attorney, invests in the show. Moreover, knowing that he has no talent, Jean-Marc hires Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, and Milton Berle (playing themselves) to teach him the tricks of the show business trade. Several plot twists later, the industrialist and the ingenue realize they are in love. LET'S MAKE LOVE is glossy, glitzy, glamorous, and critically lacking in wit. Only Monroe's luminescence and Randall's delicious underplaying redeem the proceedings--directed by George Cukor, who would work again with Monroe in 1962 in SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE, during the filming of which she died. Tunes include: "Let's Make Love," "Specialization," "Incurably Romantic," "Sing Me a Song That Sells," "You with the Crazy Eyes" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn), "Give Me the Simple Life" (Rube Bloom, Harry Ruby), and the Cole Porter classic mentioned above. The score was nominated for an Oscar.