I Love Melvin

Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds

Don Weis' I Love Melvin, from 1953, is a lightweight, but pleasant MGM musical comedy. Debbie Reynolds plays a little-known Broadway hoofer featured as a dancing football in a concoction entitled "Quarterback Kelly". She meets cute with Donald O'Connor, playing a Look magazine gofer who is hoping to break into the ranks of the magazine as a photographer by serving as an assistant to a soused lensman played by Jim Backus. Romantic complication ensue, especially because Reynolds' father (Allyn Joslyn) prefers Reynolds other suitor, a stiff, but rich suit played by Richard Anderson. Una Merkel plays Reynolds' mother and Noreen Corcoran, who was later featured on TV's Bachelor Father, plays her younger sister. The film seamlessly mixes Technicolor location footage from New York with footage shot on the MGM backlot in a picture that arrives at a happy conclusion in a brisk 77minutes. 

The very breeziness of Weis' direction is the key to the film's success. Even when the jokes fall flat, such as O'Connor's awkward attempts to buss Reynolds, it is on to the next bit. The film was an attempt to capitalize on the success of the previous year's Singin' in the Rain, albeit on a more modest level. Gene Kelly is nowhere to be found, but O'Connor was hired out from Universal in the hope that commercial lightning would strike twice. It was not to be. I Love Melvin's songs, by Mack Gordon and Josef Myrow (most famous for "You Make Me Feel So Young") are second rate and have not stayed in the collective memory. The dance sequences that feature the two leads are fun, but O'Connor was more suited to the role of second banana. Still, this picture is a better display of his talents then the Francis the Talking Mule pictures. The decline of studio musicals was fatal to both Reynolds' and O'Connor's careers. O'Connor tried to shift to more dramatic fare with a Buster Keaton biopic, but the public wasn't buying and guest shots on TV beckoned. 

Reynolds fared a teeny bit better. Public sympathy for her after she was dumped by Eddie Fisher (for Elizabeth Taylor) helped a little, as did her versatility and trouper's chutzpah. Still, she was old hat after the rise of the Beatles. I was amused reading Colson Whitehead's superb Harlem Shuffle when one of the rougher characters in the book expresses a desire to see The Unsinkable Molly Brown because of his affection for Ms. Reynolds. All in all, though, Ms. Reynolds cultural visibility was minimal for generations born after the baby boomers. I Love Melvin stands, along with Singin' in the Rain and Albert Brook's Mother, as one of the better vehicles for her talents. I was a little worried when the picture started with a glamorous production number that ends with fading MGM matinee idol Robert Taylor pitching woo to her. Reynolds was about twenty at the time and was more suited to being the girl next door than a gilded glamor puss. Luckily, this is a dream sequence, one of three in the picture, and Reynolds is revealed suitably as a spunky chorine; just like in Singin' in the Rain. 

Weis' efficient direction serves her well, as it does the supporting cast. Merkel and Joslyn sink into their roles comfortably and Richard Anderson is less wooden than usual in a thankless role. Ms. Corcoran is adequate in the juvenile role, though I would advise viewers wanting a bathroom break to take it at the beginning of her saccharine duet with O'Connor. Jim Backus shines in the comic relief role. One can see why he rose up the ranks of supporting actors in the coming years. I Love Melvin is a B musical from MGM, but it boasts some A technical features, particularly Harold Rosson's cinematography and Cedric Gibbons' art direction. The film is an interesting example of Hollywood product placement as the numerous Look magazine covers all seem to feature MGM stars (Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Lionel Barrymore). What stays in the mind about the picture are its zany production numbers, none more so than its football number in which Ms. Reynolds (and her stunt double) are tossed via harness around the set to riotous effect.