You for Me

You For Me casts Peter Lawford as a man that people seemingly think he's made of money because he has a lot of it. That's because he was left a whole lot of it by his late father from his fertilizer business. Peter has a lot of that as well. One of his father's charities was the local hospital where Gig Young toils at research when not doing surgery and Jane Greer works as a nurse, a profession she love though the pay stinks.

Lawford has need of the hospital when during a hunting trip he gets shot where his assets are at. A nice load of buckshot has him in surgery where he feels he's not getting his proper share of attention because of the money he gives them.

Of course that sets up the whole romantic triangle of this comedy with Jane Greer getting involved with both heir Lawford and Doctor Young. Guess who she winds up with?

Slight comedy from MGM's B picture unit with a few laughs. In the supporting cast note Kathryn Card as the head nurse who is not one to be trifled with, Howard Wendell who is the officious head of the hospital and butt kisser number one when he's after Lawford's money and Rita Corday who is Lawford's ex-wife and the source of some considerable cash flow problems.

This impressively silly film starts off with a bang with playboy Peter Lawford having a hunting accident which results in his getting buckshot in his tail. Bickering doctor Gig Young and nurse Jane Greer when not verbally sparring spend most of their screen time examining Lawford's derriere. Although this viewer is willing to concede that the aforementioned part of Lawford's anatomy may very well comprise that actor's greatest charm, the charm is not so great as to serve for the main focal point of an entire film especially when it is never even glimpsed by the audience. That notably absent and undoubtedly welcome sight alone could begin to atone for enduring nearly 80 minutes of Lawford's usual obnoxious urbanity and the total waste of both Young and Greer who are brought together by the end....Lawford's end, that is.

Tony Brown (Peter Lawford) gets shot in the butt during a hunting trip. Nurse Katie McDermad (Jane Greer) and surgeon Jeff Chadwick (Gig Young) are two of his caretakers. Brown is a big money contributor to the hospital. "Do you know who I am?" Lucille Brown (Rita Corday) is his gold-digging ex-wife.

It's a thin line between love and hate. At least, that's what Hollywood likes to believe. Brown needs to be less hateful and angry at the beginning. He could get easy sympathy by playing up the pain of getting shot in the butt. It's funny and a good excuse to be angry-funny. That's what's missing from that first meet-cute. It needs to be cuter. He does slip in some good sex humor but he's also too mean at times. On the second side of triangle, Dr. Jeff is too arrogant and too straight. He needs to push harder on the humor or be much more arrogant and stiff if he plays the bad side of the triangle. Jane Greer seems to be the only one who hits the bullseye consistently. She's sly. She's sarcastic. She's able to make this work despite the a few bad notes from the other performers although I don't like her with either man. That's where the meet-cute with Brown is so important. This has the potential of a good standard rom-com but the execution is a little off.

Friendly, completely inconsequential second-biller from MGM has level-headed nurse Jane Greer assigned to get the annual hospital donation out of wealthy lothario Peter Lawford; after a rocky start, they warm towards each other, but it turns out doctor Gig Young likes Greer as well! Irrepressible comedy is fast and brief, which is a good thing because the plot is paper thin. There's an ornery nurse who gets laughs, and Young is amiable and sturdy, but Jane Greer is an odd one: she gets only a few funny lines and has to run around worried about everybody, but an innate sexiness does manage to shine through her stalwart appearance. ** from ****

Though a B film, shot in studio sets and the back lot, superior writing and performances from the leads provide a very pleasant time. The story, though pretty predictable, is flawlessly constructed, the dialog witty. Greer, Young, and Lawford give flawless light comedy performances with occasional dramatic moments.

It's a shame that Greer didn't have a more robust film acting career, because she's such a good actress, always natural and believable, and handles the verbal give and take perfectly.

The film has no film composing credits, but the sprited, sprightly music under the opening credits is "Confetti" by Bronislau Kaper, probably written for another movie, which had some life beyond the films, as did some of his other movie theme music.