Let's Make Love

The plot revolves around billionaire Jean-Marc Clément (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. Clément takes the part in order to see more of Amanda and plays along with the mistaken identity, going by the name Alexander Dumas. While rehearsing, Clément finds himself growing jealous of Amanda's attentions to actor Tony Danton, unaware that she only wants to help Tony achieve stardom. In order to impress Amanda, Clément hires Milton Berle, Gene Kelly, and Bing Crosby (all playing themselves) to teach him how to deliver jokes, dance, and sing, respectively. Clément even goes as far as to indirectly fully fund the revue after one of his employees, who had raised him all his life, tries to put an end to the revue by demanding a full year's rent for the theater. Throughout this, Clément and Amanda fall in love with one another.

Eventually, Clément decides to confess the truth to Amanda, who reacts by assuming that he has gotten overwhelmed by method acting and needs to see a therapist. He eventually manages to convince her of his true identity after tricking her and the revue director into coming to his offices. Amanda is initially indignant over the deception but swiftly forgives him after the two make up in the building's elevator.

• Marilyn Monroe as Amanda Dell
• Yves Montand as Jean-Marc Clément
• Tony Randall as Alexander Kaufman
• Frankie Vaughan as Tony Danton
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Welch
• Bing Crosby as Himself
• Gene Kelly as Himself
• Milton Berle as Himself
• Joe Besser as Charlie Lamont

In 1955, Monroe had entered into a new contract with 20th Century Fox, requiring her to star in four films within the next seven years. By 1959, she had completed only one: Bus Stop, released in 1956. While Monroe shot Some Like It Hot in 1958 (for United Artists) her then-husband, playwright Arthur Miller, completed the screenplay for The Misfits (1961), which they had intended to be Monroe's next film. Some Like It Hot was released in March 1959 and became an enormous success. Critics praised the film and Monroe's performance. Hoping to capitalize on this, 20th Century Fox insisted that Monroe fulfill her contract. The Misfits was put on hold and Monroe signed on to star in what was then titled The Billionaire.

The original script was written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Norman Krasna. He was inspired to write the script after seeing Burt Lancaster do a dance at a Writers Guild Award ceremony and receive loud applause. He came up with the idea of a story about a very wealthy playboy like John Hay Whitney who hears about a company putting on a show that made fun of him and becomes enamored of the theater and a woman in the play. Krasna felt that only three actors were suitable – Gary Cooper, James Stewart and Gregory Peck – because all were so obviously not musical performers, making it funny if they sang and danced. Peck agreed to play the lead, and then Monroe was signed opposite him, even though Krasna preferred Cyd Charisse.[2]

With Monroe attached to the picture, she and Miller wanted the part of Amanda expanded, and Miller worked on the script (although he did not receive credit) to achieve this. Peck bowed out after the emphasis shifted to the female lead. Various sources state that the role was then offered to Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, and Charlton Heston, all of whom declined. It was eventually offered to Yves Montand, who had appeared in a French film version of Miller's The Crucible (1957) and had received praise for his recent one-man musical show in New York. Monroe and Miller both gave their approval for Montand in the role. The title was changed to Let's Make Love and production began in January 1960 with George Cukor directing.[3]

In March 1960, Monroe was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress—Musical or Comedy, further cementing the success of Some Like It Hot. Montand's wife Simone Signoret, with whom he had starred in the French version of The Crucible, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Room at the Top in April. The two couples were soon inseparable; they had adjoining bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

From the beginning issues arose with the film. Monroe, although enthusiastic about Montand, did not want to make the film and the original screenwriter had reservations about the cast. Despite being offered the role and having found success with his one-man show, Montand did not speak English. This led to enormous stress as he worked to understand the lines he was speaking through translation. Monroe, at this point in her career, had developed a reputation (beyond Hollywood) for oftentimes being late to set, forgetting her lines, and deferring to her coach over the director. However, some reports state that this was not true during the filming of Let's Make Love, although she and Cukor did not have the best relationship. Neither star was satisfied with the script and production was shut down for over a month by two Hollywood strikes: first by the Screen Actors Guild and then the Screen Writers Guild.[4]

Monroe and Montand were said to have bonded over the difficulties each was experiencing with the film, and when both Miller and Signoret departed during production for other commitments rumors about an affair between the two were rampant. Gossip columns at the time made note of frequent sightings of the two together alone. This led to greater publicity for the film, with Fox manipulating the affair to its advantage. In August 1960, shortly before the release of the film, Monroe and Montand were featured on the cover of Life magazine in a sensual pose taken from the film. Their affair ended when filming ended, with Montand returning to France.

• "Let's Make Love" (Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen) - sung by Marilyn Monroe and chorus, then by Marilyn Monroe with Frankie Vaughan and again with Yves Montand.
• "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (Cole Porter) - sung by Marilyn Monroe
• "Give Me the Simple Life" (Rube Bloom and Harry Ruby) - (parody) sung by Frankie Vaughan
• "Crazy Eyes" (Cahn and Van Heusen) - sung by Frankie Vaughan
• "Specialization" (Cahn and Van Heusen) - sung by Marilyn Monroe and Frankie Vaughan
• "Incurably Romantic" (Cahn and Van Heusen) - sung by Bing Crosby and Yves Montand, by Marilyn Monroe and Montand and again by Marilyn Monroe and Frankie Vaughan.[12]

In advance of the film's release (as was the custom of the era), a paperback novelization of the screenplay was published by Bantam Books, by-lined Matthew Andrews, which seems to have been a pseudonym. Publication year, 1960; cover price 35¢.

• List of American films of 1960

• Let's Make Love at IMDb
• Let's Make Love at AllMovie
• Let's Make Love at the TCM Movie Database
• Let's Make Love at Rotten Tomatoes
• Let's Make Love at the American Film Institute Catalog