The Marriage-Go-Round (1961)

Susan Hayward (Content Delville), James Mason (Paul Delville), Julie Newmar (Katrin Sveg), Robert Paige (Dr Ross Barnett), June Clayworth (Flo Granger), Joe Kirkwood, Jr (Henry Granger), Mary Patton (Mamie), Trax Colton (Crew Cut), Everett Glass (professor), Ben Astar (Sultan), Bruce Tegner (judo man at pool), Mark Bailey (boy), Ann Benton (girl), John Bryant (young professor).Directed by WALTER LANG. Written by Leslie Stevens. Director of photography: Leo Tover. Art directors: Duncan Cramer and Maurice Ransford. Film editor: Jack W. Holmes. Sound: E. Clayton Ward and Frank W. Moran. Costumes designed by Charles LeMaire. Music by Dominic Frontiere, conducted by Dominic Frontiere. Assistant director: Eli Dunn. Tony Bennett sings "Marriage-Go-Round" by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Keith, and Lew Spence. Color by DeLuxe. Photographed in CinemaScope. Make-up: Ben Nye. Hair styles: Helen Turpin. Set decorators: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox. Westrex Sound System. Producer: Leslie Stevens. A Leslie Stevens Production for Daystar/20th Century-Fox.Copyright 1960 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Paramount and simultaneously at the Trans-Lux 85th Street: 6 January 1961. U.S. release: December 1960. U.K. release: 15 October 1961. Australian release: 25 May 1961. Sydney opening at the Regent. 8,791 feet. 98 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Content (Susan Hayward) and Paul Delville (James Mason) are a happily married couple. He is a Professor of Cultural Anthropology at a university where she is Dean of Women, and both give lectures on marriage, each from his or her own viewpoint. Their talks are based on sixteen years of marital fidelity, mingled with a knowledge of marriage customs of other lands. The daughter of an old friend from Sweden — a Nobel Prize winner — comes into their life. They expect Katrin Sveg (Julie Newmar) to be a lanky teenager, but in walks a statuesque, Viking beauty. And her father is not with her. At dinner, alone with Paul, she announces, quite naturally, that she has come from Sweden to see Paul "because I want you to be the father of my baby." Katrin goes on to explain that she had seen him in a newsreel and decided that, with his mind and her body, they could produce the ideal child. Of course, Katrin is willing to allow Paul to think about her proposition. When his wife comes home, he tells her of his dilemma.NOTES: Running a highly successful 431 performances, Leslie Stevens' play, "The Marriage-Go-Round" opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theater on 29 October 1958. Paul Gregory produced, Joseph Anthony directed, Charles Boyer played Paul, Claudette Colbert played Content and Edmon Ryan was Ross. For the film, Julie Newmar repeated her Broadway role of Katrin Sveg which won her an Antoinette Perry award for best supporting actress.COMMENT: Restricted to "Adults Only" in 1961, but okay for all today, "The Marriage Go-Round" is a one-joke sexual farce, distinguished by the presence of Julie Newmar, but otherwise of little interest. I took this movie up with James Mason and this is what he replied: "As you say, the movie was clumsily and heavily directed. I would certainly agree that this particular film is as tedious as it is tasteless. Its approach to sex is hypocritical. It's also sniggering and totally unfunny. I played my part in a permanent state of total embarrassment."OTHER VIEWS: "Tedious." — Variety. "Rather thin." — New York Herald Tribune. "Remarkably tame and tedious." — Monthly Film Bulletin."The play was a smash hit and ran more than a year. The $3,000,000 DeLuxe colored screen version lacks two of the Broadway principals and most of the jokes." — Time.

A happy middle-aged couple (Susan Hayward and James Mason) allow a Swedish girl (Julie Newmar)--a daughter of a friend--to stay in their house for a few days. While there she promptly tells Mason she wants to have a child with him because he's so intelligent! Predictable complications ensue.Silly sex comedy. This was based on a VERY successful Broadway play. However what worked on stage does NOT translate to the screen at all (this was not a hit). The plot is pretty dumb and probably an insult to Swedish people. It has incredibly dated sexual politics (even for 1961) and a discussion on infidelity is more funny than shocking. What saves this from being totally unwatchable are the actors. Mason and Newmar are very good in their roles and Hayward is excellent in hers. Also their house is stunning to look at. But, all in all, this is a forgettable movie. I give it a 4.

I was working in a first-run movie theater when we showed this. I thought the plot line was extremely weak then, and I still do. Julie Newmar plays a Swedish beauty in search of a father for her planned child. She wants to find someone with a lot of intelligence so her child will grow up to have both beauty and brains. She finds James Mason's character who is a professor, and not a bad looking one at that. Having settled on him as a potential father, she finds there is only one hitch: he is already married, and his wife, not being into the liberated Swedish lifestyle, will have nothing of her husband's being unfaithful. How they managed to squeeze 98 minutes out of this plot line still mystifies me. Another thing that is puzzling is why two top-rate actors, Mason and Hayward, would have touched this script with a 10-foot pole. Like good coffee grounds won't make good coffee out of bad water, good acting just can't salvage a bad plot. They must have had to pay some bills. If you are desperate for a movie to watch, I recommend "Rocky XXIII" instead.

This movie seems to plod along with innuendos between Mason, Hayward, and Newmar. There is a fun scene between Hayward and Newmar in which Hayward advises that her husband is not for "borrowing." But Newmar's response is Hayward's equal when she responds that she is bigger, stronger, prettier, and smarter and she will only listen to what he has to say. It's a great scene but about the only one in the film that worked for me. The rest is pretty much blah, blah, blah. What IS redeeming about this movie, though, is the set decorating and the costumes. In my opinion the sets in this movie could be from 20 years in the future. Sleek, classy. The costuming is perfect: muted, elegant colors on beautifully trim bodies. Mason is impeccable in his wardrobe. Of course Newmar looks like Barbie in her swimsuit. It was, however, great to get to see her in a performance before Catwoman in the Batman series.The eye candy is worth the watch in this film.