As Young as You Feel (1951)

Yes, this is a bit of a treat for Marilyn Monroe's legion of fans, but be warned! Despite the fact that Marilyn and Marilyn alone graces the front cover of 20th Century Fox's DVD, her role is actually rather small. We keep waiting for her return in Act Three, but she doesn't make an appearance. Instead the camera focuses mostly on Monty Woolley, whose theatrically over-pitched, one-tone voice can become more than a little wearying. I'm surprised that director Harmon Jones made no attempts whatever to hose Woolley down a bit, but allowed him to run roughshod over all the other players. The lovely Jean Peters has a particularly thankless role. Not only is she pushed into a corner by Monty Woolley, but director Harmon Jones then allowed David Wayne to step all over her! As I said for Monroe fans, this movie is a must- have! Just don't expect too much!

or, 'Frank Capra Joins a Union.' A strange, almost confounding exploration of labor, corporate cynicism and citizen activism/civil disobedience. Directed without much inspiration or cleverness by Harmon Jones. It's a somewhat interesting dud. The ideas intrigue, but the tone is extraordinarily flat.Wooley is outrageously miscast as a laborer (!), who disguises himself (barely) as the head of his own firm, to agitate in the favor of older employees (because he was let go). Despite multiple family members working alongside him, it takes half an hour of film time for them to figure out that no firm has two effete, erudite, wordy, opinionated figures like Wooley associated with it. Going even further, the movie promotes other unlikely ideas; A 43 year old woman abandons her family for a 65 year old. Writer Paddy Chaevsky thinks he's saved some time and effort by having three of the workplace characters also be relations of Monty Wooley, but it just clutters up the movie, and cheats it of a smarter structure. The script feels like it never got a 2nd revision, and though ripe with comic potential, there isn't a single laugh in it; perhaps due to Wooley's overbearing presence. It operates at a weird domestic scale: many of the scenes occur in a living room filled with people, or in a second household, as if it had been a play once. The most interesting idea is a throwaway; corporations in 1951 have grown to an anonymous scale at which no one knows what the boss looks like anymore.Making all these convolutions more confusing is that two different actors, who look way too similar, play boorish heads of households (Allyn Joslyn / Clinton Sundberg). Wooley and his faux-continental accent are simply over the top. Thelma Ritter is completely extraneous to the plot. Russ Tamblyn in an early role, reads his lines without any energy, facing away from characters, as if he's reading cue-cards. Don't watch it for Monroe. She has twenty lines as a put-upon secretary, and is not a key figure in the piece. This is strictly a Wooley vehicle. It reminded me of George Bernard Shaw's labor/morality tale, 'Major Barbara.'

You come away feeling great after seeing this 1951 gem. Notice that LaMar Trotti did the screenplay and co-starred Thelma Ritter and David Wayne. The three were together the following year in "With A Song in My Heart." Note how Ritter acted almost in the way she did the following year in "Heart." Notice again the references to Brooklyn in her early lines.This film is inspiring because in a comical way it covers some social issues that are pertinent today. A man, played by the wonderful Monty Woolley, protests when he is victimized by the mandatory age of retirement rule. He makes believe he is the head boss of the concern and gives a terrific speech calling for hard work, individual initiative and the end to forced retirements. The speech causes a huge success and leads to one of the boss's wives wanting to leave him to run off with Woolley. Constance Bennett is great as the woman whose marriage has lost its sparkle and husband, Albert Dekker, who is a constant worker.David Wayne and Jean Peters play the young lovers in this highly entertaining, enjoyable, feel-good movies of the early '50s. Notice a young Russ Tamblyn here as a teenage son of Dekker and Bennett's.

This is among my favorite "little movies"--movies that were small budget and about everyday people with everyday problems. The lead is played by the crotchety but very erudite Monty Woolley. Monty is forced to retire from his job as a printer due to his age, even though he still feels young and vigorous. Everyone around him seems to agree that retirement shouldn't be forced upon you if you are still able and willing to work, but no one in this large company where he works seems to be able to anything about this rule--especially since the company is actually controlled by a huge corporation. They just keep saying it's company policy and they would change it if they could--maybe he should talk the the guy in charge to get the rule changed someone suggests. Unfortunately, no one seems to know exactly who that is or how to find him. Out of sheer frustration, he hatches a plot to impersonate the company's CEO and make the changes himself! Unfortunately, this relatively simple plan snowballs and lots of unforeseen problems arise.This is a brisk, cute movie that it sure to please. The acting is superb (I just love Woolley in films), the story well written and the film leaves you smiling.PS--Get Marilyn Monroe OFF the Video Cover!!! She's barely in the movie at all--if you expect her, expect to be disappointed. Stupid advertising folks!