Let's Make Love from 1960 would be, for many people, one of the notable movies in the Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection Volume 3 box set. But I find it a very slight movie; the plot is farcically thin if not downright non-existent. The most upsetting feature is that for much of the film Marilyn looks almost desperate. She is getting quite pudgy - not just a bit overweight, but unhealthily pudgy - and her natural charm which imbued Some Like It Hot, made just a few months earlier, is in short supply.
Her co-star is the French actor Yves Montand. I have seen references in other criticism of this movie to his wooden acting, as if he is the worst feature of the film. In fact, he acts in a very subtle and quite suave way, exhibiting a lot of natural humour and charm. Yves Montand is in fact the film's best feature. And the closing scenes, when Marilyn and Yves connect properly for the first time, are very sensual - totally believable. Which is as they should be, as they were having a passionate affair while making the movie.
The film's simple plot is about a multi-millionaire (Yves) who learns he is to be parodied in an upcoming theatre production. He decides to get an inside view of the show with the aim of monitoring and perhaps blocking it. Instead, he ends up with a key stage role - playing himself!
Once that bit of plot is done, the rest of the time is spent with Yves trying to win Marilyn's love - relatively easy in the end - and in convincing her of who he really is - relatively hard, in true Hollywood fashion.
The only time Marilyn looks really happy is towards the close of the film, when she and Yves have to get up and close on film. Here we glimpse the Marilyn of old. The film's underlying paucity though is revealed in the treatment of Tony Randall as Yves Montand's adviser. This deft comedic actor is reduced to playing a parody of himself. The direction is OK, but the script gives him nothing.
This is a very decent anamorphic widescreen transfer, which makes up for the bare-bones presentation. With much of the shooting taking place in the dark confines of a theatre, there needs to be clear delineation of shadings if the picture is to have acceptable resolution. The transfer comes up a winner - even in the darkest-lit scenes there is good differentiation of hues and tones.