I'll give Claudette Colbert credit for agreeing to play a grandmother her prime just over forty and still beautiful. The grandfather is someone who will eternally be daytime's grandfather, MacDonald Carey of "Days of our Lives", here during his movie star years. They are on the verge of divorce due to his gambling issues, and perhaps because of his fussiness over how to take care of flowers.
Their daughter, Barbara Bates, is the overly nervous type, so worried about her mother that she can't even live her own life while son-in-law Robert Wagner is much less protective and supportive, creating a bond between them. The film takes a swipe at divorce laws, making estate rulings in favor of the wife seem truly excessive. There's also a wealthy playboy, Zachary Scott and a gold digger, Marilyn Monroe, creating plot complications that in hindsight seemed really silly and unrealistic.
I'll give this film credit for presenting Colbert in a more dimensional way, seemingly nice on the surface but actually rather predatory and vindictive under the surface. It's also obvious where the plots going to be going and how it will be resolved as romantic comedies of this nature always follow the same formula. It's probably the reason why most of them are not considered classics and simple time passers although the cast gives their all and the film lavish. Monroe, not yet a star, will be the draw, but she's secondary to the story. A great ensemble in big parts includes Frank Cady and Kathleen Freeman, and Jim Hayward as the harassed gardener.
Their daughter, Barbara Bates, is the overly nervous type, so worried about her mother that she can't even live her own life while son-in-law Robert Wagner is much less protective and supportive, creating a bond between them. The film takes a swipe at divorce laws, making estate rulings in favor of the wife seem truly excessive. There's also a wealthy playboy, Zachary Scott and a gold digger, Marilyn Monroe, creating plot complications that in hindsight seemed really silly and unrealistic.
I'll give this film credit for presenting Colbert in a more dimensional way, seemingly nice on the surface but actually rather predatory and vindictive under the surface. It's also obvious where the plots going to be going and how it will be resolved as romantic comedies of this nature always follow the same formula. It's probably the reason why most of them are not considered classics and simple time passers although the cast gives their all and the film lavish. Monroe, not yet a star, will be the draw, but she's secondary to the story. A great ensemble in big parts includes Frank Cady and Kathleen Freeman, and Jim Hayward as the harassed gardener.