SimonJack
"Come Live with Me" was being made as World War II was underway in Europe. Hedy Lamarr (nee Hedwig Eva Kiesler), had left her native Austria (and first husband) for Paris in 1937. She was hired by MGM and moved to America where she made her first American film, "Algiers," in 1938. The U.S. was not yet in the war, yet war headlines filled the newspapers in January 1941 when "Come Live with Me" appeared in theaters. But with no mention of the war at all in the film, it's probably set in the late 1930s, before Germany started its offensives. No doubt many moviegoers were intrigued by the film's theme as well as enjoying seeing James Stewart and Lamarr, who had fast become a star. Lamarr is Johnny Jones, a foreign citizen with money who wants to stay in the U.S. after her visa has expired. She is the love interest of a married wealthy American publisher, Barton Kendrick (played by Ian Hunter). She wants to find a husband as a way to become a citizen. She runs into Bill Smith (played by Stewart) who is an out-of-work, down on his luck writer. So, she proposes a marriage of convenience between Smith and Jones. She provides funds for his bare necessities -- $17.80 per week if he will marry her, and that will keep him while he resumes his writing. Of course, he plans to pay every penny of that back when he strikes it rich. The two don't live together. A love triangle is part of the story, because Jones has been the love interest of a married man for the past year. Barton Kendrick (played by Ian Hunter) is a wealthy publisher. His wife, Diana (played by Verree Teasdale) reads the manuscript of a story Smith has written and sent to Kendrick publishing. It's a story about an out of work American who meets an Austrian immigrant who wants to stay in America… One can guess where the story goes from there, and the best funny stuff in the film happens toward the end. It's an OK film that's mostly a light comedy romance. The plot is skimpy and the dialog has just occasional lines of humor here and there. A better screenplay could have made this a very good comedy. And, the way the characters play their roles – especially Lamarr, it's hard to believe the romance. It just comes on at the last minutes in the film. This film is far down on the list of Stewart movies, but it's about in the middle of Lamarr's. Even though she was for some time labeled the most beautiful woman in the world, and she had some talent, Lamarr's films mostly were forgettable. Her two best films with memorable roles were "Algiers" of 1938 and "Comrade X" of 1940. She was offered better stuff in her early career but turned down the female leads in two films that are classics – "Gaslight" (1940 English production) and "Casablanca" of 1942. Still, this is a film that most people should enjoy, Lamarr quit acting after 1958. She was just 44 years old and on her fifth marriage. It was her longest that she thought might last. She was unlucky in love and married and divorced one more time. Her last marriage ended in 1964. She had two children with second husband John Loder (1943-47) and she had one adopted daughter. She died alone in her home in Casselberry, Florida, at age 85 in 2000. Lamarr may be the only screen actor to be in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2014 along with former Hollywood composer George Antheil. At the start of World War II, the two invented a frequency hopping technique that could be used by the Allies to prevent jamming of torpedo guidance systems. Apparently, it wasn't used by the U.S. until 1962, but later became an important aspect for wireless communications. The inventors received no compensation for their discovery. The original 1942 patent expired and the technique became part of the public domain. Here are some of my favorite lines from the film. For a few more comedy lines, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie. Jimmy Stewart recites the first and last stanzas of Christopher Marlowe's poem, "Come live with me and be my love." Bill, "My name's Smith." Johnny, "My name's Jones." Taxi driver, "Let's see – Smith and Jones, and I'm Snow White."Johnny, "Mr. Smith, it's such a wonderful thing." Bill, "Why?" Johnny, "That you haven't any money." Taxi driver, "And I thought I'd heard everything." Bill, as he and Johnny enter his apartment, "It's just a little place, but its dreary." Pointing out his empty book case, "If you want to browse among my books, the pawnshop's just around the corner." Bill, "Would you like to have some music? I could open the window and get the radio from across the street." Johnny, "I came here to ask you to marry me." Bill, "Why?" Johnny, "Because you have no money." Bill, looking befuddled, "Well, this is so sudden." Johnny, "I was afraid you wouldn't understand." Bill, "Yeah, yeah, well, I see your point."
abcj-2
I was a little bored with the first half hour of this film, but a well-written turn of events sends this movie in the right direction. It mixes a few classic themes (marry vs. deportation, country comes to town, wealth vs poverty, town goes to country, etc...) that could have made this movie completely formulaic. However, formula goes out the door with Jimmy Stewart's charm and Hedy Lamarr's stunning beauty. Once both characters spend screen time together, consistently, the energy of this slightly screwball romantic comedy picks up quickly. The grandmother is all wisdom, wit, and heart. Her common sense needlework samplers are artfully placed and still hold true today. The grandmother's calm voice, the sound of crickets chirping, and the other country nuances slow down the pace to a level that seems so foreign to an actress like Hedy Lamarr. She seems so out of place, but that is what makes her so enjoyable to watch. She melts slowly from the WWII city girl ice queen fugitive until she's relaxed and calm as if she can go home again, but this time to a slice of Americana rather than Austria and with a moral upstanding young man if that's the choice she's willing to make. This has just been made available for purchase on DVD. It's now on my "to buy" list and certainly worth a watch on TCM if you enjoy this genre and these wonderfully magnetic actors.
MartinHafer
This film started off rather poorly, as you learn that Hedy Lamarr is the mistress of Ian Hunter--a married man who has a "modern marriage". This plot element was difficult to reconcile with a romantic film--after all, what's romantic about this relationship? Plus, I found it hard to care about such selfish characters. Fortunately, I kept watching the film and it turned out to be a dandy old fashioned film.Hedy was in the US illegally--having fled Nazi-controlled Austria. So even though she had overstayed her visa, it was really hard to blame her for wanting to stay. In an odd bit of casting, the immigration agent (Barton MacLane) liked Hedy and suggested that she could get married to an American and thereby stay in the country. But she couldn't marry Hunter, as he was already married. So, a bit later, when she meets down-and-out Jimmy Stewart, she suggests they get married in name only. Unfortunately, over time, Jimmy finds himself falling for Hedy--though they hardly know each other.I could talk more about the plot, but don't want to ruin it. The bottom line is that the writing was excellent, the acting superb and the mood wonderful. This is exactly the sort of romance that MGM did best and it's well worth a look--just don't get turned off by Ian Hunter's character--it does get better.
