Marriage Is a Private Affair (1944)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Powerful

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

"Lovey Howell" (Natalie Schafer) tries to steal the opening scenes, but no-one could steal the show away from the beautiful Lana Turner. Turner is "Theo", the bride, who tries to keep her mother from butting in. James Craig is "Miles", the close friend, but she will marry "Tom West", a good soldier from Boston (John Hodiak). This was a WW II film, so of course, the issues of war, and getting married before one goes off to war were in everyone's mind. This was an earlier credited role for most of the cast, but it all comes off quite well. Not much of a deep story, but it's well done. Turner really lit up any scene, once they put a light on her. ( If you haven't seen Postman Always Rings Twice, it's her shining role!) The ups and downs of married life. It's a bit of war time propaganda... Lana always seems to be thinking out loud, voicing all her thoughts all the time, whether she's with her friends or her husband, almost in a child-like fashion. At one point, Theo looks at a sign that says "DO NOT ENTER".. and enters anyway, destroying army equipment. Seems pretty unrealistic. How entitled of her! About half way through, the plot goes off in other directions, and it gets more serious. It's almost two hours, but they could have done all this in shorter time. It's pretty good. I'm sure it carried more weight with folks who really were going through all these same issues during wartime. Directed by Robert Leonard, who had started EARLY in the silents.

Marriage Is A Private Affair was the first film that Lana Turner did post the birth of her daughter Cheryl Crane. I guess that's what gives the scenes of Turner with her infant son in this film some special poignancy.Turner is an irrepressible flirt, the kind who has to be the center of attention at all times. She gets that from her mother Natalie Schaefer who is on her latest husband Paul Cavanaugh. Schaefer has a Zsa Zsa Gabor like attitude toward marriage which she has passed on to her daughter.But Lana does fall for and marry John Hodiak who is something of an inventor and considered necessary to the war effort so he can't activate his commission and get where the fighting is. They have a kid and it works for a while. But she gets bored and wants to see if she still is attractive even after marriage and childbirth. She tries flirting with flier James Craig to see if she still has it.Marriage Is A Private Affair was also the first film Lana Turner did with billing alone above the title. She does a fine job as a girl who turns into a woman and finally decides to grow up. Her two leads Craig and Hodiak are also well cast in their parts.Also in the cast are Herbert Rudley and Frances Gifford a seemingly happily married couple with some secrets and issues. Gifford is a lot like Turner. Hugh Marlowe is in this as well as a scientist friend of Hodiak's also anxious to get to war. Probably had this film been done in about 10 years at least after the second World War we might have seen Turner more loose and slatternly, but during wartime there was no way Hollywood would show a star like Turner being less than true, flirting yes, but cheating a definite no-no.True blue women is part of what we were fighting for.

Lana Turner might have been a good actress, but her personal life was a mess. She was married seven times and none of them lasted very long. So, having her star in "Love is a Private Affair" is ironic indeed. The film seems inspired by her own life, as Theo (Turner) has been brought up by a spoiled and narcissistic mother (Natalie Schafer) who seems to get married about as often as most folks change their underwear! And, not surprisingly, Theo is ill-equipped for marriage. Only eventually does she realize that marriage is not about finding the perfect partner but about being able and mature enough to be married. While this isn't a bad film and it is worth seeing, the film has two things working against it. First, having Turner star in a pro-marriage film is a bit ridiculous and today this sort of casting might make folks laugh. Second, and a more serious problem, is that the film takes a long time getting to Theo's sudden revelation and the happy ending. You know it's coming but the film seems to take forever getting there.

The makers of this film had a premise: a woman whose childhood makes her a rather flakey person, a bit unsure of herself, picks one of her many suitors just to see if she can. But from there, the movie forgets drama. Why should she come to embrace marriage? It's not the birth of her son. It's not any one thing that happens to her. There's no plot catalyst in this movie, no psychological edge. It's more like a soap opera, where the characters change for no particular reason.