Two Weeks with Love

There's just something about watching an MGM musical from their golden age. Musicals from that time had a special look and feel like nothing before or since, wonderful displays of showmanship and design and talent that cast a gorgeous glow over the screen. Sure, they were corny and silly sometimes, but they entertained.

`Two Weeks With Love' is typical of this period. The story follows adolescent Patti Robinson (Jane Powell) on her family vacation to Kissimee in the Catskills, where she meets and falls in love with the dashing Demi Armendez (Ricardo Montalban). Patti pursues Demi and the hotel bellboy Billy (Carleton Carpenter) pursues Patti and Patti's sister Melba (Debbie Reynolds) pursues Billy, and Patti and Melba's Mama and Papa (Ann Harding and Louis Calhern) struggle to accept that their little girl is growing up…

`Two Weeks' is one of those movies that's a pure joy to watch, just ninety minutes of lighthearted fun and sweetness. It's a time capsule from a simpler age, when problems were never really as bad as they seemed and true love could conquer all. Sigh

Patti (Jane Powell) is coming of age in the early XX century. She sights for Demi (Ricardo Montalbán) and willing to wear corset, a clear sign of becoming a woman. Until then she can not allow any man put his arms around her...or they would discover she is not wearing corset and consequently is not a woman yet. But her parents prefer to wait until she is eighteen. That means waiting a whole year, a difficult thing specially if you have a friend called Valerie (Phyllis Kirk) who is already in the adult world and fighting for Demi's love. Delightful musical comedy that includes many beautiful songs such as Oceana roll, Row, row, row, Aba daba honeymoon (a huge success after film's release that lead to a tour song through the States for both singers), By the light of the silvery moon and a The chocolate soldier's fragment, all of them perfectly fitted. In brilliant Technicolor with wonderful costumes by Edith Head, an accurated set designs and mise-en-scène and great performances by all the cast this is a film not to be missed. Specially enjoyable are the lake boat dream sequence with Ricardo Montalban appearing in Patti's dreams and the tango dance finale A media luz (made famous by tango singer Carlos Gardel) where Mr. Montalbán (a great dancer) shines dancing with Miss Powell. She said this was her favorite film. Great entertainment.

I haven't seen this one in a long time, since I caught a TV broadcast some years ago. But I'll never forget its gentle high spirits; the warm and humorous work of the ensemble cast; M-G-M's studio-bound but, as always, first-class production values; and, of course, the happy showcasing of Jane Powell at her best. But one thing that amused me the most was the extremely sly performance by Debbie Reynolds, so early in her career. She appeared in many comedy-with-music films in the years to follow but I can't think of one that so cleverly mined her very special talent for, shall we say, winking at the audience and bringing her uniquely appealing sense of humor to the proceedings, without in the least stepping out of character. Think I'll splurge and get my own VHS copy of this one. Nostalgia can be fun, n'est-ce pas?!?

TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE is a rarity, a movie that sets out to capture the innocent charm of the early 20th century, and succeeds. A brave confection, built on a rather silly premise, it artfully presents the conflict in the heart of a 17-year-old girl who yearns to grow up and whose parents yearn to ignore it. Jane Powell is delightful as the adolescent who has a crush on the dashing man, and Ricardo Montalban hits just the right note of sophistication and kindness as he begins to fall for her. Debbie Reynolds is perfect as the wisecracking younger sister who knows what she wants and how to get it (and "it" is Carleton Carpenter), and two little brothers add just the touch of innocent mischief we would expect from little brothers in those days. Louis Calhern is delightful as the fumbling father, and Ann Harding is elegant and regal as always as the mother.

I don't see how anyone could interpret this as the same movie as DIRTY DANCING, except they both took place in Catskills resorts. It is truly about a loving family and how they cope with growing pains all around. The later film was no such thing, with a different set of characters and a totally different story line. It was certainly a different kind of resort as well.

One of Jane Powell's more popular musicals was this turn of the last century classic, Two Weeks With Love. With music and atmosphere set in the Theodore Roosevelt era, Two Weeks With Love is good entertainment and marked Debbie Reynolds's breakthrough film.

The Robinson family headed by Louis Calhern and Ann Harding are taking their annual two weeks outing in the Catskills, circa 1905. Apparent to all, but Ann Harding, her daughter Jane Powell is developing a figure. However we've got a firm rule in this family, no corset until her 18th birthday.

Another person stymied by the 18th birthday rule is Carleton Carpenter who is 17 and still in knickers. Father Clinton Sundberg owns the hotel that Robinsons stay at and will not give him long pants.

Though Powell and Reynolds can still play as teenagers, Carleton Carpenter is positively ridiculous playing a 17 year old. He's quite a bit over 6 feet tall, but that's good in a way, because that's part of his gawkiness. Where in the name of the Deity were they finding knickers back in the first decade of the last century for someone over 6 feet tall beggars the imagination.

There's a nice mixture of period, public domain music that MGM didn't have to shell out for the rights that Powell, Reynolds and Carpenter perform. Debbie Reynolds as Powell's younger sister sang Abba Dabba Honeymoon with Carpenter here and it became the hit and the song had a revival in popularity in 1950. Powell's best number is in an imaginary sequence singing Come, Hero Mine from The Chocolate Soldier. Again, MGM owned the rights by dint of purchasing that property for their Chocolate Soldier film from nine years before where Rise Stevens and Nelson Eddy duet ed this one.

Powell also dances a mean tango with Ricardo Montalban the object of her youthful crush and why she's so anxious to show her figure off.

Ann Harding as a mom is nice and loving and doesn't have a clue. She dresses her boys, Tommy Rettig and Gary Gray, in Reynolds's and Powell's old hand me down nighties. Mom, get real.

Two Weeks With Love is a nice trip down memory lane and back when it was released people actually did have memories of the turn of the last century.