Come Live with Me
January. 31,1941 NRSeeking US citizenship, a Viennese refugee arranges a marriage of convenience with a struggling writer.
Similar titles
You May Also Like
Reviews
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Wealthy Manhattan publisher Ian Hunter (as Barton "Bart" Kendrick) has an "open marriage" with attractive blonde wife Verree Teasdale (as Diana) and loves beautiful brunette mistress Hedy Lamarr (as Johanna "Johnny" Janns). The extra-marital bliss is threatened when Ms. Lamarr's visa expires and she is visited by an immigration officer. If more illegal aliens looked like Hedy Lamarr, the support for leniency and amnesty would grow. Because she is pretty, Lamarr is given one week to find an American husband...To avoid being deported, Lamarr offers struggling writer James Stewart (as William "Bill" Smith) a deal. She will pay him $17.80 per week to be her husband. Then, Mr. Stewart can continue writing and Lamarr can continue her affair with Mr. Hunter. Of course, things don't go according to plan... Stewart is very good. Lamarr is lovely. As the Grandma, 78-year-old Adeline de Walt Reynolds begins an impressive 20 year acting career. The most valuable player, producer/director Clarence Brown works wonders with this material.****** Come Live with Me (1/29/41) Clarence Brown ~ James Stewart, Hedy Lamarr, Ian Hunter, Adeline de Walt Reynolds
There is a great exchange in this movie that shows it comes from the forties:Barton Kendrick: Well where should we go? Johnny Jones: Oh I don't care. Just so there are people and music and we can be gay. Oh, how it would be nice to go to such a place in a time when we could all be gay. But, things didn't work out as La migra comes knocking on the door and wants to throw poor Johnny (Hedy Lamarr) out of the country because her Visa expires. Are they crazy?So, what to do. She and Barton (Ian Hunter) are in love, and he wants to leave his wife for her. The immigration officer feels sorry for her (Call Lou Dobbs!) and gives her a week to find an American husband.Enter Jimmy Stewart, a failed writer that is literally down to his last dime. She finances his novel and they get married, but Stewart is not happy to leave it that way, so he plans a trip home to Granny's house to make a final pitch.It was a little silly at times. The wronged wife was even willing to let her man go if Hedy really loved him. But, it was sweet and romantic and funny, too.
COME LIVE WITH ME manages to be a charming trifle of a romantic comedy that gives HEDY LAMARR and JAMES STEWART a chance to prove that they may have seemed like an unlikely pair but have sparkling chemistry with each other.Hedy is incredibly beautiful (as always) as a woman who must find a husband quickly or be deported. On a rainy night, she and Stewart meet accidentally in a fast food diner, and immediately she decides that this penniless bachelor will have to do. She makes a strictly business proposition with the man, a writer down on his luck, which he rather readily accepts--and a loveless marriage is negotiated so that she can wed Stewart, stay in the country longer, and then wed IAN HUNTER, who intends to divorce his wife.It's all rather silly and highly improbable. The deepening relationship between Stewart and Lamarr is never really fleshed out so that the viewer can expect to see hints of romance developing. Instead, after his story is accepted by a publisher (Hunter), Stewart decides to whisk Lamarr off to the country to meet his grandmother in a picture perfect rural setting. Naturally, love develops quickly and before you know it, Ian Hunter is out of the running as Hedy's prospective mate.The most original element in the story has to do with fireflies and Hedy's decision to use a flashlight "to attract a mate".It's an unassuming little comedy/romance, nicely played by the two leads and given good support by ADELINE DeWALT REYNOLDS as the grandma with her platitudes on plaques, VERREE TEASDALE as the publisher's open minded wife, DONALD MEEK as a park bum and FRANK FAYLEN as a tough talking counterman at a diner.Clarence Brown must be commended for getting a relaxed and assured performance from Lamarr, who never looked lovelier. Stewart is his usual earnest self, especially good in some comic reaction shots.
This film started off rather poorly, as you learn that Hedy Lamarr is the mistress of Ian Hunter--a married man who has a "modern marriage". This plot element was difficult to reconcile with a romantic film--after all, what's romantic about this relationship? Plus, I found it hard to care about such selfish characters. Fortunately, I kept watching the film and it turned out to be a dandy old fashioned film.Hedy was in the US illegally--having fled Nazi-controlled Austria. So even though she had overstayed her visa, it was really hard to blame her for wanting to stay. In an odd bit of casting, the immigration agent (Barton MacLane) liked Hedy and suggested that she could get married to an American and thereby stay in the country. But she couldn't marry Hunter, as he was already married. So, a bit later, when she meets down-and-out Jimmy Stewart, she suggests they get married in name only. Unfortunately, over time, Jimmy finds himself falling for Hedy--though they hardly know each other.I could talk more about the plot, but don't want to ruin it. The bottom line is that the writing was excellent, the acting superb and the mood wonderful. This is exactly the sort of romance that MGM did best and it's well worth a look--just don't get turned off by Ian Hunter's character--it does get better.