Just This Once

Since Janet Leigh is one of my favorite movie stars from the past, I really enjoyed this 1952 film where she stars as Lucy Duncan, a lawyer who had to work her way through some rough times in order to become a lawyer. Lucy has a boyfriend who is a civil engineer and makes eight-five dollars a week and Lucy finds out she has a new client who is willing to pay her fifty dollars a week and between the two of their salaries, they would be able to get hitched. The client Lucy has is Judge Samuel Coulter, (Lewis Stone) who wants Lucy to have a sort of power of attorney over the trust fund of Mark Maclene IV who is very wealthy and simply spends his money like water on all kinds of gals, giving them jewelry, furs and the list goes on and on. Lucy takes control and takes back all the items that Mark purchased and makes him live on fifty dollars a week, plus 50 cents for lunch. Lucy even shows Mark an auto mat where he can get his lunch for a quarter and takes him on a Staten Island Ferry ride for only 5 cents one way. Janet Leigh was twenty-five when she made this picture and was recently married to Tony Curtis. Great film to view, Enjoy.

Leigh is gorgeous and captivating. She gets to wear some nice outfits and shows a wide range of emotion.

The only problem is the script, which is about worse than a sixth grade reading level and is about as believable as the tooth fairy. The humor attempts fall flat at every turn. Peter Lawford is ok but doesn't have much to work with. Lewis Stone is good as always playing the familiar fatherly character he could have played in his sleep.

Mark MacLene owes a lot of money to the Internal Revenue Service, banks and others. The problem is that his trust makes $1 million a year, but he spends $150,000 every month. Sam, his board of directors, attorneys and using savings terms hire the thrifty Lucille Duncan to manage Mark's finances. When he received thousands of dollars in gifts and expenses last night, he immediately cancelled his billing account and returned as many gifts as possible. Then Mark gives out a bonus of $50 a week, which is even more disturbing. In order to get rid of Lucy, Mark moved in with her and made sure that Tom was a great help to his boyfriend. Tom now thinks he is going to marry Lucy and lift his strict control.

What a waste of early Janet Leigh and Peter Lawford. The film is not short on good looks, but its script is tedious. The premise has a lawyer desperately trying to reign in a spoiled trust-fund playboy's spending, and his attempts to justify himself just add to how unlikeable he is, which undermines the whole film. It was a romance I was never pulling for, but confess the moment they have on the ferry, their eyes meeting while they listen to another couple profess their undying love for one another, was a fine one. Don't come expecting a lot of comedy though. The final line was amusing but that was about it for its 91 minutes.

Trust fund playboy Mark MacLene (Peter Lawford) is in debt to the IRS and others. Using the trust agreement, Judge Samuel Coulter assigns overzealous lawyer Lucy Duncan (Janet Leigh) to be a trustee to oversee the spending. She's a penny pincher and puts him on a tight budget. Her first lesson is to bring him to the Automat for lunch. Her boyfriend Tom grows jealous as she grows closer to Mark.

Janet Leigh is great although I don't always agree with her character's view on money. It's very protestant of her. Fans will enjoy her. I don't see enough difference between Mark and Tom. Certainly, these characters do change over time. Tom needs to be colder and stiffer so the comparison can be made with Mark. Nevertheless, I like the rom-com premise and structure. In general, I like these actors. I would like some minor changes to help with the rom-com chemistry.