Let’s Make Love (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Aug 01, 2018
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
George CukorRelease Date(s)
1960 (June 17, 2018)Studio(s)
20th Century Fox (Twilight Time)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: D
Review
George Cukor, one of America’s best directors, directed his first musical in 1954, A Star is Born, which was a huge success. In 1960, he directed another musical (with a little comedy added to it), starring one of the most iconic pop culture figures ever, Marilyn Monroe. Despite her passing over 50 years ago, her name is still as recognizable as ever, and Let’s Make Love was the last musical and second to last film that she was ever a part of.
Let’s Make Love commences with pretentious billionaire Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand). Upon learning that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he intends to shut the show down before it happens. His P.R. Man, Alexander Coffman (Tony Randall), suggests that he visit the theater to see rehearsals instead. While there, he takes notice of the beautiful Amanda Dell (Marilyn Monroe). Mistaking him for an actor, the director unknowingly informs him that he would be perfect to play the part of himself. For the sake of being closer to Amanda, he goes along with it, but eventually, he will have to reveal the truth to Amanda about who he really is, despite knowing that she doesn’t even like the real Clement.
Let’s Make Love is simply a harmless, silly comedy. Marilyn Monroe does what she does best, singing and dancing in some very provocative outfits. Her role in the film is the usual sweet and soft spoken type, but her and Yves Montand have very good chemistry together and director George Cukor gets plenty of mileage out of both of them, playing to their strengths. The supporting cast, including Tony Randall, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Frankie Vaughan, is superb while the musical numbers are entertaining, well-staged, and a pleasure to watch. There are also a few cameo appearances to keep an eye out for, including Milton Berle and Bing Crosby portraying themselves.
Twilight Time presents Let’s Make Love on Blu-ray with an HD master provided by Twentieth Century Fox. Colors look bright and cheerful while black levels during darkened or nighttime scenes are well-balanced and quite sharp. Skin tones, in particular during close-ups of the actor’s faces, are finely detailed. An English 5.1 DTS-HD track is the main audio option for this release with optional subtitles in English. Sounds ranging from dialogue to musical numbers are clear, pleasant, and mellow, without any drop-outs or anything overly aggressive. The other audio option is an English 2.0 DTS-HD track. Everything is much louder, stronger, and more aggressive.
Special features for this release include an isolated score track in 2.0 DTS-HD (no issues were detected), the original theatrical trailer, a scroll-through of the current Twilight Time catalogue, and an 8-page insert booklet written by Julie Kirgo, which is always a welcome addition.
It has been stated elsewhere that Lets Make Love isn’t Marilyn Monroe’s best film. Whether that is true or not is up for grabs, but it’s a catchy film that’s worth a look on a lazy weekend afternoon. Besides, how can one not enjoy the gorgeous presence of Marilyn Monroe?
- David Steigman