The Lady Is Willing (1942 film)
{{short description|1942 film by Mitchell Leisen}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Lady is Willing
| image = The-lady-is-willing-1942.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Mitchell Leisen
| producer = Mitchell Leisen
| screenplay = James Edward Grant
Albert McCleery
| story = James Edward Grant
| starring = Marlene Dietrich
Fred MacMurray
Aline MacMahon
Stanley Ridges
Arline Judge
Roger Clark
| music = W. Franke Harling
"I Find You" (song) by Jack King (music) and Gordon Clifford (lyrics)
| cinematography = Ted Tetzlaff, A.S.C.
| editing = Eda Warren
| distributor = Columbia Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1942|02|12}}
| runtime = 92 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
}}
The Lady is Willing is a 1942 American screwball comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen, produced by Columbia Pictures and starring Marlene Dietrich and Fred MacMurray.[http://www.marlenedietrich.org/filmLady.htm The Lady is Willing profile]
Plot
Stage actress Elizabeth Madden finds an abandoned baby and discovers a longing to be a mother. To adopt the baby, however, she must be married. To that end she convinces divorced pediatrician Dr. Corey McBain to marry her.{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-lady-is-willing-v28096|title = The Lady is Willing (1942) - Mitchell Leisen | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie}}
Cast
{{div col}}
- Marlene Dietrich as Elizabeth Madden-McBain
- Fred MacMurray as Dr. Corey T. McBain
- Aline MacMahon as Buddy
- Stanley Ridges as Kenneth Hanline
- Arline Judge as Frances, the first Mrs. McBain
- Roger Clark as Victor
- Marietta Canty as Mary Lou, the housekeeper
- David James as Baby Corey
- Ruth Ford as Myrtle
- Harvey Stephens as Dr. Golding
- Harry Shannon as Detective Sergeant Barnes
- Elisabeth Risdon as Mrs. Cummings
- Charles Lane as K. K. Miller
- Murray Alper as Joe Quig
- Kitty Kelly as Nellie Quig
{{div col end}}
Production
Marlene Dietrich broke her foot tripping on a little red wagon behind a couch early in filming. To hide her injury a double was used in some scenes.
Marlene Dietrich was frustrated by Fred MacMurray’s unwillingness to have an affair with her on set. Director Mitchell Leisen told her, “Listen Marlene, Fred’s so much in love with his wife Lilly, he couldn’t care less about any other woman, so you lay off. Just make the picture; forget about making Fred.” MacMurray later recalled, “I had never had anything like this happen on a picture before and it was very embarrassing.”{{Cite book |last=Chierichetti |first=David |title=Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director |date=1995 |publisher=Photoventures Press |year=1995 |isbn=0929330048 |location=Los Angeles, USA |pages=161-163 |language=English}}
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called The Lady Is Willing "a very stagy exhibition in rather revolting taste" and wrote: "Where it should be tender and simple it is maudlin and over-dressed. And where the romantic business should be delicate it is coarse and lickerish. ... The lady is too willing and not sufficiently sincere."{{cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=1942-04-24 |title=The Screen in Review |work=The New York Times |page=21}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0034961|title=The Lady is Willing}}
- {{TCMDb title|id=28138}}
- {{AFI film|id=27304|title=The Lady is Willing}}
{{Mitchell Leisen}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Is Willing (1942 film), The}}
Category:1940s romantic comedy-drama films
Category:1940s screwball comedy films
Category:American romantic comedy-drama films
Category:American screwball comedy films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Columbia Pictures films
Category:Films directed by Mitchell Leisen
Category:Films set in New York City
Category:1940s English-language films
Category:Films scored by W. Franke Harling
Category:English-language romantic comedy-drama films
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