Love Is Better Than Ever (1952)

Even though the performers are kid performers Love Is Better Than Ever suffers from the fact that a musical performer should obviously have been in the lead. I'm guessing that Debbie Reynolds must have been otherwise engaged because this was clearly a vehicle that would have been good for her. Similarly MGM could have cast Marge and Gower Champion in the leads and given the Larry Parks role a dancing background to make it fit Gower.Instead Elizabeth Taylor was assigned the role of the young dancing hopeful looking for a big break and who runs a dancing school to keep the bills paid. Liz clearly does not look comfortable doing the musical parts although she doesn't have to worry about the kids outshining her.She meets up with Larry Parks who is a theatrical agent and a player and although he breaks her heart at first, she's determined to trap him. In fact she makes it a family project with parents Tom Tully and Josephine Hutchinson in on the game.MGM took this same idea and did it much better three years later with The Tender Trap starring Frank Sinatra and wait for it Debbie Reynolds. That film is told from the man's point of view, but it is infinitely superior to Love Is Better Than Ever.MGM held up the release of Love Is Better Than Ever because of the blacklist which Larry Parks was prominently on. When they did release it was in deference to Elizabeth Taylor whom they were trying to build up. The film did neither of their careers any good.

In my opinion, this was one of Elizabeth Taylor's best movies she ever starred in. In this film she was young, talented and even funny. I was fortunate enough to have caught this movie while it was playing on Turner Classic Movies, and fell in love with the movie. When I first saw it coming on Turner Classic Movies, I was hesitant to watch it, as I have not been a huge fan of Elizabeth Taylor's movies and don't normally follow her films or her career. This movie was better than my expectations and when it ended I wanted to watch it again. I have even tried to watch a few more films that Elizabeth Taylor starred in. I have been trying to catch another showing of the film ever since. The movie is not available on DVD and was only released on VHS back in 1993 so it is hard to find for home viewing. I hope that they release the movie onto DVD or Blu-Ray DVD in the near future and until then I hope that Turner Classic Movies continues to show it once in a while. I do think that the movie deserves more credit than it has received. If you get a chance to watch it, you will not be disappointed.

Larry Parks is a fast-talking, streetwise agent who falls for a Connecticut dance teacher against his will in "Love is Better Than Ever," directed by Stanley Donen. Parks and Taylor have a whirlwind romance in New York while she's there attending a dance teacher convention. She falls in love, only to learn at the end of their week together that he's only interested in a good time. Heartbroken, she returns to Connecticut, where her father helps her hatch a plot that will bring him running to New Haven and into her arms.This is a very slight comedy, but Taylor is exquisitely beautiful and in excellent shape. It's no wonder that cynical Larry Parks can't forget her, though he claims that he wants to. In one scene, they stand and talk in profile for several minutes, and all one can think about is how perfect Taylor's profile is. Larry Parks is another story - a very strange choice for a leading man. Had he not been blacklisted, it's likely he would have gone on to character roles fairly quickly. For a studio that boasted the likes of Clark Gable and Robert Taylor, it's curious that he was cast in leads. He is, however, a very good actor, though it's hard to see why Taylor would have been attracted to him. Sadly, he only made two films after this one.There are some nice dance sequences with the children, including some dancing fruits. "Love is Better Than Ever" has some nice moments and a dazzling 20-year-old Taylor, and that's about it.

Stanley Dornen directed this cute love story about a dancing teacher (wow Taylor really is gorgeous here) and she goes to New York for a convention but gets sidetracked into her first love affair with Larry Parks, who really doesn't want to give up his solo life. Things change at the dancing school where people talk about it like a big scandal as she is so much younger than he. But with all the waiting and shenanigans they finally end up in eachother's arms after a false wedding announcement. The story is cute, the dancing is terrific, and acting is superb, and even a Giant Baseball player, George Metkovich is in it. Larry Parks was the Giant fan.