Love Nest (1951)

Two married New Yorkers purchase an old, run-down building full of colorful tenants.

Director:

Joseph M. Newman (as Joseph Newman)

Writers:

I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay), Scott Corbett (novel)

Stars:

June Haver, William Lundigan, Frank Fay

Cast

Complete credited cast:
June Haver	...	Connie Scott
William Lundigan	...	Jim Scott
Frank Fay	...	Charles Kenneth 'Charley' Patterson
Marilyn Monroe	...	Roberta 'Bobbie' Stevens
Jack Paar	...	Ed Forbes
Leatrice Joy	...	Eadie Gaynor
Henry Kulky	...	George Thompson

Storyline

Jim and Connie's postwar New York building troubles keep Jim from working on his novel. Ex-WAC from Jim's army days Roberta moves in, further upsetting Connie but pleasing Jim's friend Ed. Tenant Charley, who marries tenant Eadie, loans money to Jim to help him keep the building, money which this Casanova obtains from rich widows.

---

Plot Keywords:

tenant | jealousy | apartment building | sunbathing | author | 

---

Taglines:

It's open house for laughter...and the screen's most heart-warming house-warming in years!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Reluctant Landlord

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marilyn Monroe doesn't appear in the film until the 31st minute.

---

Quotes

George Thompson: I wish I could be going on a honeymoon when I'm his age.
Florence: Why wait that long?

---

Connections

Featured in 20 Dates (1998)

---

Soundtracks

Laura
(uncredited)
Music by David Raksin
[Heard as Patterson orders dinner in Pierrot's]

User Reviews

Pleasant but unmemorable I.A.L. Diamond scripted comedy features a young Marilyn Monroe

Written by I.A.L. Diamond, the future writing partner of the great Billy Wilder, the script has hints at some of their future collaborations ("The Apartment," Some Like it Hot," "The Fortune Cookie," etc), but is nowhere as good any of those films. This story is about a GI returning home to find his wife has bought a broken-down NYC brownstone as an investment for them to rent out to tenants. What ends up happening is they find themselves caught up in the lives of their various renters, most notably of which is a GI buddy of the husband, "Bobby" short for Roberta, played by a before-she-was-famous Marilyn Monroe. When she made this film, Monroe has just had her memorable small role in "All About Eve" and studio boss Darrly Zanuck took it upon himself to begin shaping her image with a key supporting part in this film. Monroe is quite good in the picture, but is only of the several tenants the film follows. If the film had more prominently featured Monroe or made more out the perceived love triangle between husband, wife, and Monroe, it may have made for a fun farcical door slamming sesx comedy along the lines of "Kiss Me, Stupid." Instead, it's merely a pleasant, but forgettable comedy that's now only of note as an early work by Monroe and Diamond before they went on to bigger and better films; Monroe with "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "The Seven Year Itch" and Diamond co-writing "Love in the Afternoon" and "Monkey Business" (the Hawks comedy, not the Marx Bros. film) before their paths crossing again nine years later in the undeniable American film classic "Some Like it Hot." Overall, if you watch "Love Nest" don't expect anything the caliber of Monroe or Diamond's later work, but instead simply expect a modestly entertaining comedy.