Reviews

The basic premise of the story -- a psychiatrist wagering that he can produce a "super baby" through hypnosis -- is silly beyond belief. It's never clear exactly what that means, but it's really beside the point. The main purpose of the story is to provide a humorous backdrop for a non-stop series of mildly suggestive situations, and to show females in various states of undress -- and here it succeeds admirably. Everyone involved seems well aware that the story is just froth, and the campy performances are what make this little gem so enjoyable. Agnès Laurent, as the French beauty queen who agrees to be hypnotized, is nothing short of aces, and the other leads are terrific as well.

I found "Mary Had a Little..." to be great fun from beginning to end. Recommended!

Writing a review is not usual for me, but after watching this film I felt compelled to offer an alternative take to what another reviewer has described as "fairly insufferable". That is a personal view, not particularly objective, or even fair, in my opinion. I believe anyone who has seen any to all of Marliyn's movies will appreciate the insights this movie provides into her private life. I found the readings from her journals particularly enlightening. The content of these journals was deeply personal and well articulated, and the dramatic readings by various actors only amplified this fact. I've seen other documentaries about MM, but in my opinion this film does the best job of demonstrating the dichotomy between her movie persona and her personal life. It reveals that behind the sex symbol was a thoughtful, intelligent woman who worked hard for everything she got, and who was plagued throughout her life by psychological demons. It is an evenhanded approach, neither castigating her for her faults, nor deifying her for what she accomplished.

Highly recommended for all MM fans.

I am a great fan of Irene Dunne, and Astaire & Rogers, but even so I can't help but think that the three star rating this movie gets on AllRovi is nothing short of inept.

The cast are all terrific, and wonderful songs by Jerome Kern, beautiful dancing from Astaire & Rogers, and stylish sets and clothes combine to make this gem great fun from beginning to end. The three big dance numbers from Astaire & Rogers deserve all the usual superlatives, but just as delightful were two singing numbers from Ms. Dunne, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Lovely to Look At". (The latter winning the Oscar for Best Original Song, by the way.)

For me, the 106 minutes flew by. Highly recommended.

I have a passion for the great movies and stars of early Hollywood, and at this point I have seen many dozens (possibly hundreds) of gems from the '30s and '40s. Ernst Lubitsch is one of my favorite directors, yet somehow I have just gotten around to watching this highly touted movie. I'll admit upfront that I have never been a James Stewart fan, though I don't deny the greatness of films like Rear Window, Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder, ... (the list could go on and on). I was expecting to be similarly impressed with this movie, given all that has been said about it. Instead, it left me cold.

The story is a little silly, but that didn't bother me in The Merry Widow or The Smiling Lieutenant. The acting was very good, but I was thinking throughout the movie that I would have liked it better with two different leads. As a whole, it just didn't click for me, and I have no desire to see it again. For me, the two movies mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, along with Trouble in Paradise and Ninotchka, are far superior examples of "the Lubitsch touch". One fan's opinion.

I was disappointed, which I realize is way out of line with most reviews, both here and elsewhere. The main problem for me is that the story is drenched in Hollywood melodrama and sentimentality. The effect (for me at least) is that the subject matter -- an aging couple and their relationship with their grown children -- loses much of its poignancy. A very similar story is told without the Hollywood treatment, and to much greater effect, in the great Japanese film Tokyo Story. That film is also superior in just about every other way -- acting and cinematography, especially, come immediately to mind -- and this movie suffers greatly by comparison.