Yves Montand suggests to Marilyn Monroe... Let's Make Love (1960)

When I first became enamored of classic Hollywood, there were a handful of actors who were responsible for introducing me to this new wonderful world. At the time, the one who shone the brightest was Marilyn Monroe. My sister first discovered her for a school project and soon both of us were fascinated by this incredible woman. I'll never forget when my sister received a box set of Marilyn's films for her birthday; we devoured those films as quickly as we could and to this day I cherish them. To celebrate Ms. Monroe's June 1st birthday, I thought I'd host my own three-day tribute by looking at three of those films that were so pivotal for me. Forget the tragedies, the romances, and the what-might-have-beens. What I want to focus on is the work, the iconic performances that Marilyn left behind. Previously, I wrote about the iconic comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Seven Year Itch. Today, I conclude my ode to Marilyn with George Cukor's underseen gem Let's Make Love.
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For the longest time, I haven't understood why Marilyn Monroe's penultimate film has barely been discussed. In the six years I've been blogging, I don't think I've even seen another blog mention Let's Make Love -- which is why I desperately wanted to write about it. To me, this is a movie that deserves much more recognition. Marilyn gives an incredible, lived-in performance that knocks me back every time. There are some fantastic cameos that I don't want to spoil just yet. The musical numbers are beyond delightful. But why sit around and list all of its qualities when I can go a little more in depth?

We begin with a narrator giving us the financial and romantic history of the family of Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand in his American film debut), a famous entrepreneur who resides in New York. Quick side note: I've always hated this part -- it's superfluous and boring, which means it might scare away first-time viewers, but just fast-forward through it and you'll get to the good stuff. Okay, end of side note.

At the Clement company headquarters one day, PR agent Alex Coffman (Tony Randall) arrives to warn Clement and his right-hand man George (Wilfrid Hyde-White) that he is about to be parodied in an off-Broadway revue called Let's Make Love. The men aren't amused by the prospect and talk about suing or even closing the show down. As someone who used to work in theatrical PR, Coffman suggests instead that Clement

demonstrate he has a sense of humor about himself by going to one of the rehearsals, thus taking the sting out of their depiction of him. You can watch the scene here.

Coffman and Clement head to the Theater in the Round in Greenwich Village. As they quietly take their seats, colored lights flash on the stage as leading lady Amanda Dell (Monroe) descends from the darkness wearing

only black stockings and an oversized sweater. A well-known womanizer, Clement becomes enchanted while watching Amanda perform Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." I love this number so much. Jack Cole's choreography is offbeat yet sexy, and Monroe is completely beguiling. She is demure but also explosive and joyful. It's hard to find the scene online -- the best quality I found has the number broken into three videos, here, here, and here. Just beware that for some reason their beginnings and endings are blacked out for a few seconds.

When the number ends, the lights come up and the spell feels broken. We see that the theater is a dingy little place where the cast and crew never stop moving. Feeling pretty full of himself, Clement watches Amanda from across the room and orders Coffman to invite her to have dinner with him that evening, a routine he's obviously done many times before. When Coffman gets sidetracked by an old friend of his, Clement decides to move in for the kill -- but he is quickly interrupted by the show's producer, who believes he is a dead ringer for Clement. Although the billionaire initially tries to protest, he is hired for the role of impersonating himself.

Amused, Clement lies that his name is Alexander Dumas (yeah, he's not good at thinking on his feet) and goes along with the charade as he talks to Amanda and learns that she isn't a bit impressed by Clement. She wants to know why he doesn't do some good with his money and why he thinks every woman should faint upon hearing his name. Clement becomes more fascinated as Amanda tells him about attending night

school to get her high-school diploma, learning how to knit, and her love of performing in shows like Let's Make Love. Their conversation is cut short when they hear the show's star Tony Danton (Frankie Vaughan) drunkenly enter the building singing. When he falls down some stairs, Amanda screams and rushes to him, only to realize that it was just a prank.

Clement jealously watches as Tony gets on the stage and sings "Give Me a Song That Sells," a tune that the show is thinking about buying. It becomes clear to Clement that Amanda and Tony adore one another, so after everyone applauds Tony's impromptu performance, Clement tries to steal the spotlight by getting onstage and telling a dull joke that we previously saw him tell to a group of businessmen with great success. He is embarrassed, though, when everyone stares in stony silence. Amanda assures him not to worry about it before dashing off for dinner with Tony.

Wishing to get closer to Amanda, Clement reveals to Coffman that he is going to attend the next rehearsal as Alex Dumas, just for a few hours until he can sufficiently hook Amanda. He then gives Coffman $1,000 to buy him a brand-new joke from a writer Coffman knows named Charlie Lamont. Without wasting any time, Clement has a private eye look into Amanda and learns that although she is often seen with Tony, she also meets up with a mysterious, married man every day at a church. Smelling a scandal, George begs with Clement to drop the whole thing, but he goes ignored as Clement orders for his yacht to be prepared and asks his secretary to find him the appropriate attire for his role as Dumas.

At rehearsal the next day, he is further intimidated by Tony when the actor sings "Hey You, with the Crazy Eyes" to a giggling Amanda. Frankie Vaughn makes this such an infectiously fun number, and Monroe's elated reactions to him are lovely. It isn't hard to see why Clement would be envious of Tony. After the song, Clement is once again struggling to get Amanda to go to dinner with him when the show's producer, Mr.

Burton, brings in Charlie Lamont to punch up the comedy. Unaware that Lamont was the guy who wrote the joke he bought, Clement gets on the stage and gleefully recites it. Furious, Lamont lunges at him and accuses him of stealing it. When Clement is unable to say how he came upon the joke, Amanda lies that she saw him buying it from a man last night at Lindy's.

Touched by this, Clement thanks her over coffee, but Amanda waves it off. She asks him what his regular job is and, remembering that he has a $10,000 Cartier bracelet in his pocket that he was going to give to a girlfriend, he replies that he is a jewelry salesman for a company that makes fake diamonds and pulls out the bracelet as a sample of their product. Happy to help her new friend out, Amanda buys it for $5 and is admiring

it when Lily, a dancer from the show, catches sight of the bauble. She eagerly offers to buy one for her sick mother, but when Clement says that was his only sample, Amanda graciously gives it to Lily and returns to rehearsal. Once Lily reveals to Clement that her mother has been dead for several years, he gets his revenge by lying that the process used to make the "fake" diamonds look real is super radioactive,
                                                                                              forcing a freaked out Lily to throw the bracelet back at him.

That evening when rehearsal is over, Clement starts to walk Amanda home when she shows him how sometimes she likes to jog the way there. Mortified by the stares they're getting, Clement has them get a taxi instead and marvels at Amanda's inability to feel self-conscious: "You seem to forget yourself. That's how you dance, and you walk in the street that way, too. You seem at home wherever you are. It must be a great

feeling." As the taxi pulls up to a church, Clement surmises that it must be the same one where Amanda meets her mystery man. After they tell each other goodnight, he decides to peek in the window and discovers that the man is a minister... and her father. Clement should fire his private detective -- how in the world did the guy miss that?

Meanwhile, at a bar, Coffman runs into Abe Miller, the manager of the Theater in the Round, who has just learned that the realty company that owns the theater wants a year's rent in advance. Unable to finance such a task, Miller mentions how Mr. Burton mortgaged everything to get this show off the ground and sadly walks away. Feeling suspicious, Coffman finds out that the realty company is owned by Clement Enterprises,

leading him to believe that Clement is trying to selfishly close the show. Drunk and disgusted, Coffman bursts into his boss's office to confront him. Tony Randall is hilarious as he mocks the clueless Clement, sneering lines like, "Money, my lord. That's all [women] ever kissed when they kissed you." Clement figures out that the rent ploy must have been George's, which makes Coffman immediately remorseful.

In a moment of self-awareness, Clement explains to Coffman that he knows how privileged he is and how his money warps the way people interact with him -- that's why Amanda is so special. "Only that girl has ever spoken to me. Not to my money, not to my name, but to me," he confides. "And I do not intend to lose her." Realizing that Clement has become serious about Amanda and wants to marry her, Coffman vows to help him any way he can.

In the next scene, we see that this news has also changed George's stance. Thrilled that the man he looks at as a son is ready to settle down, George acts as a wealthy investor with the aid of Coffman, which enables Clement to put money in the show. Since his future wife is the star, he wants Let's Make Love to be a big success. But he also wants to control it, so George gets him 51% of the show.

To give George a glimpse of what he has invested in, Burton has the company run through a dress rehearsal of "Specialization." Sung by Tony and Amanda, the number is interspersed with wordless impersonations of opera singer Maria Callas, classical pianist Van Cliburn, Elvis Presley, and Clement. Playing himself, Clement's role is pretty simple: he just has to wear a top hat and tails and suavely stand arm-in-arm with Amanda. At the last minute, though, Burton decides to have "Alex" crow like a rooster, which refers to the lyric "You'll rule the barnyard if you specialize." George and Coffman visibly cringe when Clement is forced to crow, and he isn't happy about it, either.

At his office later, he tells the men how ridiculous he feels and how fed up he is with Tony having all of the jokes and songs in the show (ignoring the fact that Tony has much more talent and experience than Clement). George advises him to just admit to Amanda who he really is, promising that she'd be impressed with his wealth and business acuity because that is what makes him who he is. "No, George, that is my power," Clement replies. "That is five generations of money. That is a billionaire. But it is not me, and this girl I want to fall in love with me." Believing that Tony's talent stems from the things that are bought for him, Clement decides he can beat Tony by getting the best teachers for himself. Remembering that they own stock in NBC, George calls the network and hires...

Milton Berle! Strong-armed by NBC, Uncle Milty reluctantly coaches Clement in the art of comedy. The results are pretty disastrous. Much too stiff and straitlaced, Clement just can't seem to get the hang of anything Berle shows him. At the next rehearsal, Berle stops by and pretends to be an old friend of George's. He talks about how he heard one of the actors doing a great comedic routine in the hallway. Burton assumes it

was Tony, but Berle points at Clement, who acts surprised, and asks him to do the routine for everyone. Although we're expecting the billionaire to crash and burn -- and there are indeed a few stumbles -- he does a wonderful pantomime of a man's commute on the subway. It's a really funny moment that allows Montand to shine.

Burton is so impressed with "Alex" that he offers him a run-of-the-play contract and a $10 raise. Clement, however, firmly demands $50, even though it is incredibly questionable whether "Alex," an inexperienced bit player, would deserve such a high raise. Burton blows his top and fires Clement, but George insists he stays, reminding Burton that he has controlling interest. George then takes Clement aside and is told he must give Clement and Amanda $50 raises. This scene used to puzzle me somewhat because I couldn't understand why Clement would ask for such a bold raise when he definitely doesn't need the money, but in watching it this time, it hit me that perhaps he was taking George's advice and was trying to show Amanda, who witnesses the whole fight, his business skill. While she does seem a little impressed by how it all turns out, I think she feels more bewildered than anything.

Alas, Clement's triumph is short-lived when Tony and Amanda do a dress rehearsal of the show's title song, a suggestive little ditty that finds Amanda chasing after and seducing Tony in a minimalist bedroom set. Sitting in the darkened audience, Clement imagines a different version of the number, one where he dances on a glitter-covered boardroom table while Amanda happily knits a sparkling sweater until it all ends in a passionate

kiss. Caught by George, Clement sheepishly resumes watching the performance, just in time to see Amanda cooing in Tony's ear and provocatively leading him offstage as the lights dim.

At his office that night, Clement commiserates with George, Coffman, and Berle that Amanda still hasn't fallen for him. Maybe he needs to work on his singing next? Berle has a great teacher in mind: Bing Crosby! Using the exquisite tune "Incurably Romantic," Bing croons each line and explains his choices while Clement repeats his phrasing. The irony here is that Yves Montand was a singing star over in Europe and was very capable of keeping up with the likes of Crosby. He does a great job, though, of purposely hitting the wrong notes and phrasing lyrics awkwardly to demonstrate Clement's ineptitude.

Worried that his pupil's singing won't be good enough, Bing advises Clement that it'd be better if he could dance as well. Luckily, the legend knows just who to call -- Gene Kelly! Like Bing and Milton Berle, Kelly isn't too jazzed about Clement's, shall we say, lack of ability, but he does his best. According to Kelly's widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, the icon thought Monroe "was very well-suited for musicals. I wish I could say that I thought up the idea of her doing a musical first, but I didn't." He thought it was a shame she didn't do more in the genre, saying, "She wasn't a dancer in the grand style of Cyd Charisse or Leslie Caron, but she moved very well..." Although Gene only appeared with Montand in the film, he posed with Monroe for some delightful publicity shots, recalling that "there are a lot of photographs of her being on the set and so forth, but that's because she felt good and we were friends and she just came out to keep us company." Here are some of those adorable shots:

Back to the plot! At rehearsal one day, George presents the company with their newest song, "Incurably Romantic." When Tony begins to sing it with Amanda, George stops them and says he bought the number specifically for Clement. Tony silently walks off in a huff to the concern of Amanda, but she is nothing if not a professional and proceeds with Clement. As they practice, the director watches them closely, incessantly

shouting at them to cuddle up closer to one another. He tells Amanda to drape herself all over Clement and has her nuzzle his neck, all of which, surprisingly, makes Clement uncomfortable. Obviously, this is not the big romantic moment he had in mind. Still, he manages to end the song by kissing Amanda, who passionately kisses back and looks positively dazed when the liplock is over. However, she stills rejects Clement's offer for

dinner, causing him to respond in exasperation, "I've never met such a difficult girl to feed!"

On her way to her dressing room, Amanda overhears Burton chastising Tony after finding a bottle of booze in his room, making us realize that Tony is a recovering alcoholic. Amanda immediately rushes in to hold Tony back as Burton pours the liquor down the sink. After seeing "Alex" get more material, Tony is feeling pretty hopeless, telling Amanda that his career just keeps stalling and his shows keep closing early, despite his performances consistently receiving great reviews. He knows he can do "Incurably Romantic" better than Clement, but he isn't being given the chance. Amanda decides she can help by going out to dinner with Clement and keeping him away long enough so Tony can perform the number for George. You can watch the scene here.

That evening, Clement takes Amanda to a fancy Chinese restaurant, where he impresses her with a toast he gives in Chinese. After a while, though, Amanda starts to feel guilty for deceiving him and blurts out the truth, explaining that she did it because show business is Tony's life, not a side job like it is for "Alex." Her admission just endears her more to Clement, who confesses his feelings for her and proposes. When she becomes hesitant, he decides to reveal his true identity. Thinking it's a joke, Amanda laughs, but the more he insists it is real, the more worried she gets that he has become delusional.

She bolts to the theater with Clement right behind her. In her dressing room, she sits him down and gently tells him that he took her earlier advice about getting into character too seriously. He doesn't have to pretend to be Clement for her sake -- after all, money means nothing to her! Happy to hear this, Clement kisses Amanda. Their sweet moment is ruined, though, when he continues to claim he is Clement. Now feeling angry, Amanda accuses him of making fun of her and storms out to help Tony perform for George.

With only a spotlight on him and surrounded by dancing couples, Tony turns "Incurably Romantic" into a full production number. He serenades Amanda with the song as she stands next to him, a wind machine causing her dress to cling to her. I must say that it occurred to me during my latest viewing that despite his vocal talent, Montand kind of got the shaft in this film. His singing is kept brief, and when he does get

the opportunity to do the movie's big love song, it's marred by the loud injections of the director character. Frankie Vaughan, on the other hand, gets to showcase his voice over and over. The soundtrack released for the film allows you to better compare the men's singing. You can definitely hear their different styles in their duets of "Incurably Romantic" with Monroe here.

As Clement morosely watches Tony from the audience, he orders George to get an injunction to have the show closed, citing invasion of privacy. When the company learns the news the next day, Amanda is livid and wants to fight back. "Alex" suggests that because of Jean-Marc Clement's notorious weakness for beautiful women, they should send Amanda to explain the show to him. Everyone agrees, and they head over to the Clement

Building right away. With Clement standing beside her, Amanda earns dumbfounded looks from various secretaries as she asks to see Mr. Clement. They're finally led to any empty office where Clement takes a seat behind his desk. Aghast, Amanda tries to pull him away, but as he begins to give dictation in different languages, she comes to the realization that he had been telling the truth, just as we realize that his

injunction was only a rouse instead of the vengeful act we initially thought it was.

Amanda's amazement quickly turns to anger, prompting Clement to blame his wealth and her feelings toward it for why he had to lie to her. Unwilling to hear anymore, she runs away and gets into his private elevator. He comes on the intercom, though, and begs her to come back. When that doesn't work, he overrides the elevator and has it come back up. He steps inside and starts seductively reprising "Let's Make Love." Amanda's protests fade away as she slowly gives in, and they finally embrace.

After witnessing Burt Lancaster dance and earn rapturous applause at a Writers Guild Award ceremony, Oscar-winning screenwriter Norman Krasna was inspired to pen The Billionaire, a musical comedy about a wealthy playboy who joins an off-Broadway show upon learning that it plans on lampooning his image. For the playboy, Krasna envisioned Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Yul Brynner, and Gregory Peck, believing that since they didn't typically perform in musicals, it would add to the humor of the film. Peck signed on and was soon joined by Marilyn Monroe, whose success with Some Like It Hot encouraged her studio 20th Century Fox to hold her to the previously neglected terms of her contract.

The addition of Monroe ended up being the subtraction of Peck, though, when she and her husband Arthur Miller had her role expanded with Miller himself providing uncredited rewrites. With Peck gone, Monroe lobbied for her leading man to be Rock Hudson (which would have been fabulous), but the role ultimately went to Yves Montand, a French actor and singer who slowly found stardom after being discovered by the legendary Edith Piaf in 1944. Having starred in the French version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Montand was approved by both the playwright and Monroe. There was just one little problem: he didn't speak English. This made production extremely stressful for the actor, and it led to many critics complaining that Montand was difficult to understand in the finished film.

Their marriage already shaky when filming started, Let's Make Love put even more strain on the Monroe-Miller relationship. Miller felt his work on the script was beneath him and distracted him from doing more important things. More significant, though, was the affair that happened between Monroe and Montand. At first, the Millers, Montand, and his wife, acclaimed French actress Simone Signoret, became great friends and even had adjoining bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They would eat dinner together every night while they chatted about the script and Montand practiced his English.

When Signoret and Miller departed for other commitments, Monroe and Montand, having already bonded while commiserating about the film, reportedly grew closer. Gossip columnists went crazy anytime the actors were spotted alone together, a fact that Fox used to its advantage for publicity purposes, such as when, right before the film's release, a still of Monroe and Montand from the movie's last scene was plastered on the cover of Life. The couple's affair was said to have ended when filming did. While Monroe and Miller would divorce soon thereafter, Montand and Signoret remained married until her death in 1985. Interestingly, before her passing, Signoret wrote about Monroe in her autobiography with affection, saying, "She will never know how much I didn't hate her, and how I understood that story, which only concerned the four of us, although it seemed to obsess the whole world."

Let's Make Love was helmed by George Cukor, whose deft touch with comedy and musicals fit perfectly. As it was with many directors who worked with Monroe, Cukor was often frustrated by the star, but he also understood that she couldn't help it. "I knew that she was reckless. I knew that she was willful. She was very sweet, but I had no real communication with her at all," he recalled. "You couldn't get at her... As a director I really had very little influence on her. All I could do was make a climate that was agreeable for her. Every day was an agony of struggle for her, just to get there."

One of Monroe's biggest difficulties was her inability to complete a scene. According to Cukor, "She'd do three lines and then forget everything again. You had to shoot it piecemeal. But curiously enough, when you strung everything together, it was complete." Years later in an interview with David Letterman, Yves Montand would recall how incredibly frightened Monroe was about being in front of the camera. Although her methods seemed irrational, the actress possessed a kind of spark that made

everything she did feel magical. Cukor actually admitted that because of this, he could forgive her anything, recounting how just watching her run across the room in her high heels one day dissipated his anger.

While Let's Make Love contains one of my favorite Monroe performances, Norman Krasna thought Cyd Charisse was better suited for the role. Monroe herself believed that Amanda Dell was the worst role of her career, remarking that "there was nothing there with the writing" and she only did it because of her contract. I wonder if it was really the circumstances around the film that soured her on the character. Personally, I've always been thoroughly charmed by Amanda and Monroe's portrayal. The character has clear ambitions and desires, none of which are tied to a love interest. On the stage, she is a mixture of sweetness and carnality, but this persona isn't all there is to her. She is very much her own woman, unfailingly generous and honest.

In my pieces about Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Seven Year Itch, I noted Monroe's "comedic brilliance," a facet of her talent that perhaps gets buried because it doesn't jive with the tragic tale that is so often weaved out of her life. Monroe could be a joyous, playful person, though, and you can see that emanating from her in her work. "She had this absolute, unerring touch with comedy," Cukor told author Gavin Lambert. "In real life, she didn't seem funny, but she had this touch. She acted as if she didn't quite understand why it was funny, which is what made it so funny."

Although I adore Let's Make Love primarily because of Marilyn, I can't ignore the other actors who make the film so enjoyable. Tony Randall and Wilfrid Hyde-White are both superb; some of their line readings are just impeccable. As Tony, Frankie Vaughan makes me question with every viewing whether or not he really should've been Amanda's choice and not Clement. He and Marilyn have an easy chemistry, especially when they perform a number together. A well-known pop singer from Britain, Vaughan didn't find the same level of success in the U.S. that he found at home, which feels wrong considering he's so great in this film.

The aspect that conflicts me the most in Let's Make Love is Yves Montand. Don't get me wrong, I like him a lot. He was a fine actor and a marvelous singer, but there are moments in the movie where I just want to shake him to loosen him up. Clement is certainly a reserved, quiet character, but the lead in a romantic comedy shouldn't be too serious or else you risk losing the inherent fun of the genre. I also struggle with Clement in general. The script smartly shows us that he is self-aware enough to realize how his privileged position affects his relationships, and Montand ably conveys how starved Clement is for love that isn't based on his wealth, but his jealousy toward Tony is an issue. He doesn't try to get to know the man, making him oblivious to how his attempts to win Amanda steal the spotlight from Tony, whose livelihood (and sobriety) depends on that spotlight.

While flawed, Let's Make Love has endured as one of my favorite films, a sentiment that hasn't wavered ever since I first saw it over ten years ago. Cukor's assured direction, Krasna's pleasant script, and Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen's score ensure that it is well-crafted, and the cast is terrific. Even if you don't know Milton Berle, Gene Kelly, or Bing Crosby (which I didn't when I initially saw the film), their cameos are fantastic. But really, Marilyn's sensitive, vivacious performance is worth the price of admission alone, so do yourself a favor and give Let's Make Love a chance.

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This is my third and final contribution to the Second Annual Broadway Bound Blogathon. You can check out the entries for Day 1 here and Day 2 here.