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Julie Newmar, James Mason, and Susan Hayward in The Marriage-Go-Round, 1961. |
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Julie Newmar tries to seduce James Mason. He looks rather pleased with himself. |
The Marriage-Go-Round,
is a rather dull 1961 comedy starring James Mason, Susan Hayward, and Julie
Newmar. It’s based on the play of the same name, written by Leslie Stevens, which was produced on Broadway
in 1958, and was quite a hit, running for over 700 performances. Julie Newmar
won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Katrin Sveg. The Marriage-Go-Round is about anthropology
professor Paul Delville (Mason), who is happily married to Content Delville,
who is the dean of women (Hayward). They get a visit from a Swedish professor
friend of Mason’s and his daughter, Katrin (Newmar). But there’s a catch. Katrin’s
father doesn’t make the trip, and Katrin, whom the Delvilles last saw as a
young girl, has blossomed into a voluptuous young woman of 20. And Katrin
boldly tells Professor Delville that she would like him to be the father of her
baby. Katrin tells Delville that with her body and his intelligence, they will
have a wonderful child together. Of course, Mrs. Delville is less than thrilled
by Katrin’s proposition. But Katrin assures Content that she doesn’t want to
steal Paul from her, merely “borrow” him to father her baby.
It’s a rather silly story, and of course characters don’t
behave in logical ways, as Content keeps leaving Paul and Katrin alone together.
When Paul and Katrin kiss and he discovers he can’t resist her, he orders her
out of his house. Which makes sense. No use having temptation right under your
nose, especially when she’s sunbathing without a top on. But when Content
learns that Paul told Katrin to leave, she inexplicably makes him go back on
his word and invite her to stay longer. Which makes no sense. The whole thing
ends happily, for the Delvilles anyway, as Paul doesn’t cheat and Katrin goes
back to Sweden without a father for her future baby.
Besides the silly plot, the major problem of The Marriage-Go-Round is that Mason and
Hayward were dramatic actors, and not comedians. I’m not sure why they were
cast in the movie in the first place. I’m a big fan of Mason’s acting, so I
found it quite amusing to watch him play light comedy given his serious image.
It’s amusing to watch Mason slowly light up as Katrin flatters him. The scenes where
Newmar flirts outrageously with Mason are quite funny to watch if you think of
them as a kind of reverse twist on Lolita,
a film of Mason’s that would be released just a year and a half after The Marriage-Go-Round. Hayward has a
more difficult part, as Content’s behavior seems quite daffy, and hard to
figure out. Nothing Hayward’s character says or does struck me as that funny. Newmar
comes off the best, as she invests Katrin with the right amount of sweetness
and smarts. With her statuesque figure, Newmar was perfect for the part of a
Swedish bombshell.
The Marriage-Go-Round
shows how some comedies just don’t age well. I think that, in general, since
1961, the way we view comedies has changed much more than the way we view
dramas. I think that it’s much easier to enjoy a drama from 1961 than a comedy
from 1961. Of course, there are exceptions to this, as there are movies that
were funny when they were released and are still funny now. Audiences might
have found The Marriage-Go-Round quite
funny in 1961, but in 2014 it seems quite dated and more apt to raise a chuckle
than a hearty guffaw.
I think you were wrong this was a great movie a real classic
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