Of Marilyn Monroe’s later films, LET'S MAKE LOVE has to be the least satisfying for her fans. The biggest problem with LET'S MAKE LOVE is Monroe’s limited screen time- heck; she doesn’t make her first appearance until fifteen minutes into the film. Another problem is that her character is flat, uninspired and perfectly suited any number of up and coming actresses, instead of a star of with an established persona such as Monroe’s. The only viable reason Marilyn had to appear in LET'S MAKE LOVE was a desire to work with French star Yves Montand, whose character is the central focus of the movie.

In LET'S MAKE LOVE, Montand portrays billionaire Jean-Marc Clement, who learns from his company’s PR man Howard Coffman (Tony Randall), that his very public persona is to be parodied in an off Broadway review. Before taking legal action, Clement decides to catch a rehearsal of the show, at which time he is offered a role in the production, after being mistaken for a celebrity look-alike. In a none too surprising move, Clement accepts the part after the show’s leading lady Amanda Dell (Marilyn Monroe) catches his eye. What follows is Clement’s attempt to win Amanda’s heart by perfecting his masquerade as a poverty stricken French actor. The cast of LET'S MAKE LOVE also features Frankie Vaughan, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Joe Besser, and uncredited cameos from Milton Berle, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has made LET'S MAKE LOVE available on DVD in a wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for 16:9 displays. Working from restored film elements, the folks at Fox have produced a very nice presentation for LET'S MAKE LOVE. The image is usually crisp and features a very nice level of detail. Of course, there are a few shots that are a bit soft but that can be attributed to a combination of CinemaScope lenses and DeLuxe processing. Colors are generally very nice, with good saturation, but can be a bit inconsistent, especially during optical transitions. Blacks appear accurate and contrast is good. The restored film element can, on occasion, demonstrate very mild blemishes. A grain structure is noticeable during much of the movie, but is hardly bothersome. Digital compression artifacts never caused a concern.

LET'S MAKE LOVE is offered with a Dolby Digital 4.0 channel soundtrack, which is representative of the theatrical sound mix. As was the fashion during the CinemaScope era, dialogue follows the onscreen action across the forward soundstage. Additionally, sound effects can be a tad exaggerated, but once upon a time, movie screens had enormous CinemaScope dimensions and the cavernous movie palaces required stereo soundtracks to match. The monaural surround channels add ambience and musical fill, but seem almost quiet in comparison to today’s discrete digital sound mixes. Fidelity is very good for a four-decade-old film, with the score and musical numbers sounding quite nice. Dialogue is cleanly rendered, but there is a brief synchronization problem during the course of the film. A French language track is also included on the DVD, as are English and Spanish subtitles.

The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. As with the other titles in Fox’s second wave of Marilyn Monroe titles, LET'S MAKE LOVE features a comparison of how the movie looked in previous video incarnations and how it now looks now with both film and video restoration. Theatrical trailers for DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK, MONKEY BUSINESS, NIAGRA, RIVER OF NO RETURN and LET’S MAKE LOVE have also been provided on the DVD. A brief still gallery closes out the DVD’s extras.

LET'S MAKE LOVE is available individually on DVD for $19.98 or as part of the Marilyn Monroe: The Diamond Collection Volume II for $79.98.

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Let's Make Love (1960)

Marilyn Monroe - The Diamond Collection II

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THE CINEMA LASER is written, edited and published by Derek M. Germano.