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The Marriage Go Round
A professional cast and solid production values keep the 1961 comedy The Marriage Go Round from being just another photographed stage play.
Paul Delville and his wife, Content are married college professors who find their marriage challenged when a young Swedish woman, whose father was a former colleague, has returned to America all grown up and announces that she wants Paul to father a baby with her.
Leslie Stevens' play first premiered on Broadway in 1958 and ran for over 400 performances. Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert played the Deville's and statuesque Julie Newmar created the role of the Swedish sex kitten.
Boyer and Colbert lost the roles in the film version to James Mason and Susan Hayward but Newmar was allowed to recreate the role she created on Broadway in the film version and she gives an eye-opening, movie-star performance that is about so much more than her amazing body. Newmar brings a depth and complexity to the role of Katrin because we're never completely sure of what her agenda is...yes, she says she wants a baby but never says that's all she wants and that's the fun of this comedy. The Devilles have taken each other for granted for years and it is the appearance of this woman in their lives that makes them take stock of their lives, not to mention Ross (Robert Paige) a longtime family friend who has been waiting for Content to dump Paul for years so he can have her...or so he thinks.
Romantic comedy has never been James Mason's long suit but he works very hard at keeping Paul likable and Hayward's acid-tongued Content is on the money, but they both take a backseat to Newmar, who totally owns this movie and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, a long way from being one of the brides in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The film also features top-notch art direction and music, including Tony Bennett's bouncy rendition of the title tune.
A professional cast and solid production values keep the 1961 comedy The Marriage Go Round from being just another photographed stage play.
Paul Delville and his wife, Content are married college professors who find their marriage challenged when a young Swedish woman, whose father was a former colleague, has returned to America all grown up and announces that she wants Paul to father a baby with her.
Leslie Stevens' play first premiered on Broadway in 1958 and ran for over 400 performances. Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert played the Deville's and statuesque Julie Newmar created the role of the Swedish sex kitten.
Boyer and Colbert lost the roles in the film version to James Mason and Susan Hayward but Newmar was allowed to recreate the role she created on Broadway in the film version and she gives an eye-opening, movie-star performance that is about so much more than her amazing body. Newmar brings a depth and complexity to the role of Katrin because we're never completely sure of what her agenda is...yes, she says she wants a baby but never says that's all she wants and that's the fun of this comedy. The Devilles have taken each other for granted for years and it is the appearance of this woman in their lives that makes them take stock of their lives, not to mention Ross (Robert Paige) a longtime family friend who has been waiting for Content to dump Paul for years so he can have her...or so he thinks.
Romantic comedy has never been James Mason's long suit but he works very hard at keeping Paul likable and Hayward's acid-tongued Content is on the money, but they both take a backseat to Newmar, who totally owns this movie and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, a long way from being one of the brides in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The film also features top-notch art direction and music, including Tony Bennett's bouncy rendition of the title tune.