Let's Live a Little

Even after three viewings, I still think this movie is terrible. Its a comedy, but I haven't laughed yet. Robert Cummings is miscast, and I keep wanting to slap this character as I wonder why in the world the casting director chose him (wouldn't Jimmy Stewart be much better?). Hedy as a psychiatrist is intriguing as a concept, but this script falls very short. As a consequence, she looks mostly flat, absurd and misplaced. Unlike a number of her other films, her beauty can't save this movie. Nevermind the fact that Hollywood was slack with boundaries in its portrayal of psychiatrists.

I hope future viewers find enjoyable qualities in this movie.

A simply average comedy most notable for bringing Anna Sten out of Hollywood flopland--at least box office flopland. She shows a real flair for comedy as a spoiled rotten cosmetics queen with an eye on Robert Cummings,who is masterminding her advertising campaigns.

But Cummings is Overworked to the 200th degree and suddenly realizes he's falling in love with the female psychiatrist he's been seeing(Lamarr),who doesn't want to upset the doctor-patient relationship. And Lamarr's officemate Shayne has deep feelings for Lamarr.(This is Shayne's biggest part before he was demoted to TV character actor).

If you think you recognize Cummings's male officemate,you do. He played "Mr. Macy" in MIRACLE ON 34th STREET.

Wilbur Mack is the patient Cummings encounters in Lamarr's office--"You're crazy! The only difference between us is--I KNOW IT!" This is the sort of picture that's neither good NOR bad---just an actor's pet project.

Whatever possessed HL to appear in this ridiculous film which panders to the worst excesses of male chauvinism prevalent in Hollywood in 1948.I fully endorse "cheeseplease's" comments.We all know HL was intelligent (co-designer of an electronic torpedo guidance system patented with a male colleague) as well as being very beautiful and I had hopes in this film she would espouse tracts of Freud/Junge and show us her innate well bred poise and intelligence.What we got, or rather what she was "saddled" with, was some airhead of a Hollywood scriptwriter & producer giving us the most facile, unfunny, badly constructed so-called "comedy" screenplay I have seen in a long while.

I too found nothing to laugh at in this contrived one dimensional film.I presume that by 1948 in this "B" feature, Hedy was getting rather desperate for good scripts or needed the money.The same goes for Robert Cummings.(How mush better he was in Hitchcock's "Saboteur" (1945) with Priscilla Lane or even his "Dial M For Murder (1953)with Grace Kelly.The subject film never touched on psychiatry presumably because the screen writer and producer knew nothing about it and patronisingly considered it an unfunny subject for American audiences in 1948.That just exposes their ignorance when films like Hitchcock's "Spellbound" (1945) had been filmed.Silly irritating sequences of both leads imagining each other's faces superimposed on other peoples bodies really annoyed me.How could two rational people who had reached an elevated position in their respective careers appear so foolish?Pulling silly faces or reacting in a crass way in these sequences is certainly not funny to an intelligent audience.

Why then did I purchase this DVD?Well I had hopes of seeing another good performance by HL like she played in "Come Live With Me"(1941) a witty and literate film opposite Jimmy Stewart.I rate the latter as her best film ever as her own character has verisimilitude as an Austrian refugee - albeit a very beautiful one.At least it is another rare HL film in my collection of her.Verdict - 3/10 could do better.

"Let's Live a Little" from 1948 stars Robert Cummings, Hedy Lamarr, Anna Stenn, and Robert Shayne. Baby boomers will recognize Shayne by voice alone as Inspector Henderson on TV's Superman from the '50s. This is the largest role I've seen him do.

Robert Cummings plays Duke Crawford, an advertising executive with too much work, too much pressure, and an ex-fiancee client Michelle Bennett (Anna Stenn) who is driving him insane. His boss expects her to sign a $100,000 renewal contract so they can advertise her beauty products, but she's leading them on, making demand after demand.

His boss suggests that he stop working on the Bennett campaign and turn to something else - getting press for a new book by a psychiatrist, Dr. J. O. Loring (though at one point she's also described as a neurologist). When he goes to her office, he discovers that she's a woman. And not just any woman - the amazing looking Hedy Lamarr!

In truth Duke does seem like he's losing his mind. He's very confused, and when he sees J. O., he becomes more confused. She becomes concerned. Both become infatuated.

J. O. Shares her office with a surgeon, Richard Field (Shayne) whom she is dating. When J. O. finds out that Duke goes to a particular nightclub, she suggests to Richard that they go there to see what it's like. Duke, of course, is there with Michelle, who becomes instantly jealous. The evening doesn't end well.

Pleasant but not a rip-roaring comedy. One of those '40s comedies that just doesn't come off. The stars are very likeable, though, and Hedy is stunning.

This B-feature has several strengths that give it potential, as the three main characters are all well cast and acted, and the subject matter is just as topical now as it was then. It also makes numerous efforts to be creative in the use of double exposures and other such techniques. Though it does not capitalize on all of its opportunities, it's a solid movie that's worth seeing.

The story focuses on the ways that romantic attentions, both wanted and unwanted, can get tangled up with workplace and professional responsibilities. It sets up a lot of possibilities, though much of the time the script settles for light humor rather than trying to get more out of a given scene. It does work well enough as a light romantic comedy, and indeed many other movies over the years have had the same options and have made the same choices.

Hedy Lamarr gives the best performance, as a psychiatrist/author whose professional and personal feelings become intertwined. Her character is interesting, and it's a little unfortunate that her dialogue was not written more carefully. But she does quite well with what she has to work with. Anna Sten works well as an amorous cosmetics tycoon. Robert Cummings is believable and likable as an advertising executive, although he sometimes portrays his character as a bit too much of a bungler. Robert Shayne is adequate, though often rather dull, as the fourth of the major characters.

Overall, "Let's Live a Little" is a decent movie to watch as light entertainment when you don't want to think too much. Its low-budget look and its general avoidance of the more interesting possibilities keep it from being much more, but a movie like this can be worth watching if your expectations aren't too high.