Just This Once (1952)

Mark MacLene owes the IRS, the banks and others a lot of money. The problem is that his trust makes $1,000,000 a year, but he spends $150,000 every month. His trustee, Sam, uses the power ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Weis

Writers:

Sidney Sheldon (screenplay), Max Trell (story)

Stars:

Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford, Lewis Stone

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Janet Leigh	...	Lucy Duncan
Peter Lawford	...	Mark MacLene IV
Lewis Stone	...	Judge Samuel Coulter
Marilyn Erskine	...	Gertrude Crome
Richard Anderson	...	Tom Winters
Douglas Fowley	...	Frank Pirosh
Hanley Stafford	...	Mr. Blackwell
Henry Slate	...	Jeff Parma
Jerry Hausner	...	Stanley Worth
Benny Rubin	...	Herbert Engel
Charles Watts	...	Adam Backwith
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Schallert	...	Secretary (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Mark MacLene owes the IRS, the banks and others a lot of money. The problem is that his trust makes $1,000,000 a year, but he spends $150,000 every month. His trustee, Sam, uses the power of attorney and the spend thrift clause to hire frugal Lucille Duncan to manage Mark's finances. Presented with thousands of dollars for gifts and charges from the night before, she immediately cancels his charge accounts and returns as many gifts as she can. Then she puts Mark on a allowance of $50 a week, which upsets him even more. To get rid of Lucy, Mark moves in with her and makes sure that her boyfriend Tom receives a huge raise. He thinks that Tom will now marry Lucy and he will be rid of her tight control.

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Plot Keywords:

automat | debt

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 1952 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Eine Falle für den Playboy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

-- See a Peter Lawford Movie

This is a surprisingly strong romantic comedy starring Peter Lawford and Janet Leigh. At first they seem to be playing their stereotypical roles -- Lawford is immensely rich, and annoying: he spends too much, so his fund trustee -- played by the ever dependable Lewis Stone -- hires common, sensible, penny-pinching Janet Leigh to rope in his spending.

At first I thought this was going to be another of those unfunny, empty comedies that Don Weis directed Peter Lawford in in the early 1950s, but this is quite different. There is a tremendous amount of character exposition between the gags, flaws and strengths of character together to make this a highly enjoyable movie.