Marilyn Monroe's "Let's Make Love"

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Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand, Let’s Make Love - directed by George Cukor (1960)

Let's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller. It starred Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand and Tony Randall.



The plot revolves around billionaire Jean-Marc Clement (Montand) who learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue. After going to the theatre, he sees Amanda Dell (Monroe) rehearsing the Cole Porter song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", and by accident the director thinks him an actor suitable to play himself in the revue. Clement takes the part in order to see more of Amanda and plays along with the mistaken identity, going by the name Alexander Dumas.

Frankie Vaughan appears as a singer in the revue, while Milton Berle, Gene Kelly, and Bing Crosby appear in cameo roles as themselves trying to teach Clement how to deliver jokes, dance, and sing, respectively. Tony Randall in a supporting role portrays Clement's conflicted flunky.

Let's Make Love was an ill-fated project, with Monroe, Montand and Cukor all considering it subpar. In her recent history, Monroe had garnered critical acclaim for her performances in Bus Stop (1956), The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), and Some Like It Hot (1959). Let's Make Love did not appeal to her, but she was obliged to shoot the picture because of her contract with Twentieth Century Fox. The affair between Monroe and Montand complicated matters. At the time, Monroe was married to playwright Arthur Miller and Montand to actress Simone Signoret.

Arthur Miller revised the script so that more emphasis was given to Monroe. Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Rock Hudson, and Yul Brynner all turned the leading role down. Eventually Fox persuaded Montand to accept the part. When the film was released, it received mixed to negative reviews and made only $4.5 million dollars at the box office. The film was the first film starring Monroe to lose money in years.

The film received an Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for Lionel Newman and Earle H. Hagen and two BAFTA nominations for Best Film from any Source for George Cukor and for Best Foreign Actor, Yves Montand. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture Musical/Comedy.

-- Wikipedia