The Mating Season (1951) User Reviews

somewhat unexpectedly, a really beautiful movie

[pzanardo · 8/10 · 19 July 2000]

"The Mating season" is definitely, though unexpectedly, a beautiful movie. The plot relies on a simple but original idea: the mother-in-law is a positive character, in some sense the actual heroine of the movie. The misfit between the low-class Ellen McNulty (Thelma Ritter) and the upper-class folks surrounding her, with her son (John Lund) as a link, is a source of continuous fun. Thelma Ritter gives a first-class performance.

Also the rest of the cast works beautifully, especially Larry Keating. The whole movie is a pattern of good taste. What about Gene Tierney? We see her in short-pants... later she sings a French song. This would be enough to recommend the film, isn't it? Now, forget Gene Tierney's beauty for a moment (that's hard, I know): she acted in comedies, dramas, misteries, thrillers, film-noirs, westerns, adventure and historical movies, and so on. She always enters into her role with perfect ease and versatility. She is a great actress, this is the true point. Gene adds further class to "The Mating Season", a little jewel not to be missed.

Not exactly deep or realistic, but wow is this movie a lot of fun!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 25 March 2007]

Okay, before I begin, I should point out that cynical people are warned NOT to watch this little fantasy film. However, everyone else should delight in watching this very simple yet very enjoyable film. Sure, there are a few story elements that just don't make sense--but my advice is to try to ignore these and keep watching--the payoff makes it well worth your time.

A young couple, John Lund and Gene Tierney, are getting married but are unaware that Lund's mother (Thelma Ritter) is broke and has no place to live. However, Ritter is very proud and won't admit this or that she doesn't have the money to look nice for the wedding, so she skips the service on a pretense. Later, and here's where realism goes out the window, she shows up at Lund's and Tierney's apartment and Tierney thinks Ritter is the maid who has come to help her cook for a big party! Ritter does NOT tell her who she really is and makes a terrific spread. Only later does Lund come in the kitchen and sees what's occurred! Now even then, you MUST suspend disbelief because Lund doesn't tell his wife the truth--he was interrupted as he was telling her later that night, as she was trying to make passionate love to him and he just forgot! As a guy, I actually can believe this--at least short-term, but not for most of the movie! BEAR WITH IT!!! Ritter, one of the best forgotten supporting players (here in a starring role), is utterly charming as the housekeeper and she is able to do wonders to help the young but troubled marriage. How it all works out so perfectly in the end makes it all worth while (particular with as it involves Lund's boss, played by Larry Keating). A charming film that is practically impossible not to like!! They don't make sweet and charming films like this any more.

Delightful light comedy

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 13 January 2008]

"The Mating Season" is a 1951 film that stars Gene Tierney, Thelma Ritter, John Lund, Jan Sterling, Miriam Hopkins and Larry Keating. Tierney and Lund play newlyweds Maggie and Val McNulty - she's a blue blood but broke, and he's up and coming in the corporate world. Val's mom Ellen (Ritter) owns a hamburger place but loses it and comes to see her son, only to find out he's getting married. Ellen makes her excuses and works until she has enough money for a new outfit. Then she calls on her new daughter-in-law - only to be mistaken as a maid hired to help with a party the couple is throwing. Ellen is a big hit, and, swearing her son to secrecy, stays on in the house. Then Maggie's arrogant, spoiled mother (Miriam Hopkins) comes to town to stay with Maggie and Val. Four becomes a crowd.

This is a very sweet, funny film with wonderful ensemble acting and great characters. Tierney has her familiar hairdo (which around this time she didn't always have) and looks gorgeous. She's totally charming as Maggie. Lund does a good job as her harried husband, who wants to make good and has just a touch - a slight touch - of being a jerk. It's a weakness that we forgive him for later on. Of course, Ritter steals the show as Ellen, doing a role very familiar to her - a mouthy servant. Hopkins is bigger than life as Maggie's totally obnoxious mother, and Larry Keating is a delight as Val's boss' father, who has better values than his son will ever have. Jan Sterling has a small part as Val's former girlfriend. As usual, she looks cheap and acts cheaper.

Lots of fun - don't miss it.

A great cast working at their professional peak.

[gregcouture · 18 September 2003]

This one has the distinct virtue of allowing Thelma Ritter more than a few brief scenes and, as her fans will tell you, she's the best reason for seeing this well-scripted, smoothly directed comedy of manners.

The beautiful Gene Tierney and handsome John Lund make a convincingly in-love married couple, though this role probably sealed John's fate as a "stuffed shirt" in the roles he later accepted. Miriam Hopkins is devastatingly effective as a wretchedly spoiled woman and Larry Keating is just fine as a feet-on-the-ground boss.

If you can catch this one, its dated elements shouldn't detract from a very enjoyable viewing experience.

Classic Ensemble Comedy: Tierney, Hopkins, Ritter, at their Professional Peak **** stars

[johnggriff · 10/10 · 2 February 2007]

Where do I start, this seems to be just a well done ensemble farce with elements of screwball comedy. Mistaken identity, overbearing mother in law. But when you take a second look, this is a movie with cynical undercurrents about the American dream. I don't want to give away the plot so I will just comment on the excellent cast and direction by Mitchell Leisen. Leisen treats the material with such respect and care, what could have been average is fresh and new. Gene Tierney has a great comic touch, Miriam Hopkins gives a great over the top performance, then what can I say Thelma Ritter, just amazing. I was really impressed with her warm hearted scenes with Gene Tierney. There is not a weak link in the supporting cast. This is great ensemble acting. The movie comes to a very satisfying conclusion. This is one of the most underrated comedies of the era. I do believe this movies is gaining the respect it deserves. Most critics today consider this a CLASSIC. I hope Paramount will release this on DVD.

This is movie is worth watching and buying

[Rastamon41 · 10/10 · 2 February 2007]

This is a lost treasure, I saw it a few nights ago on TCM, and was surprise about the acting and the quality of the movie, script and direction, and for a change it is not set in New York or Los Angeles, but in Cleveland, Ohio. Gene Tierney was fantastic in this movie. I wondered aloud why Paramount Pictures have not release this movie on DVD. Gene Tierney is by far one of the most beautiful women ever in movie history. This is a newer version of screwball comedies, but with a twist, I won't spoil it for you. Here goes what I can tell you, two mother-in-laws, a newly wed couple, a rich spoil kid and a beautiful woman, got it? That is all I will say, this movie is a charm. Even if you don't like screwball comedies, Gene Tierney is worth the time, she is just great to look at, a very beautiful woman.

Another good collaboration of Leisen and Brackett...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 31 January 2007]

Charles Brackett and Mitchell Leisen collaborated on a few successful films, including the dramatic TO EACH HIS OWN ('46), but here the accent is on a rollicking romantic comedy starring GENE TIERNEY, JOHN LUND, THELMA RITTER and MIRIAM HOPKINS.

It's a spin on the mistaken identity theme, with Ritter inadvertently thought to be a much needed maid when she shows up at Gene Tierney's house at an opportune moment with the lady in distress for a good cook. Thelma assumes the identity of the hired help while socialite Tierney is unaware that she's really the mother of John Lund, her new hubby.

Even more complications ensue when Tierney's snobbish mother (MIRIAM HOPKINS) turns up, intending to show her disapproval of Tierney's impulsive decision to marry Lund. Lund has no affection for Hopkins. "She fills every room with poison gas," he remarks to his colleagues at work.

***** POSSIBLE SPOILERS HERE ***** But it's his own snobbish attitude in not wanting to tell Tierney his mother's identity that gets him into hot water with Gene when she finds out the truth about their cook. She puts on the big freeze and tells him she's going to take up residence in Mexico--until things are straightened up in the last ten minutes with a rather contrived ending that has Tierney and Lund suddenly reunited while Ritter unexpectedly finds a mate of her own.

THELMA RITTER was Oscar-nominated as the fast talking mother-in-law who happens to be a gourmet cook--one of six nominations but no wins.

Summing up: Well worthwhile, with all of the principal players getting a chance to show a nice flair for comedy.

Crisply written romantic comedy

[laura-6 · 10/10 · 1 January 2006]

Thelma Ritter as down-on-her-luck Ellen McNulty shines in the role of a mother-in-law mistaken for a maid. Ellen McNulty is a woman everyone would want to have on her side, but woe betide anyone who tries to fool her. Thelma gets the best lines, but all parts are well-written and the film's pacing is superb.

The always reliable, always theatrical, Miriam Hopkins, hams it up as a superficial socialite disappointed in her daughter's selection of the down-to-earth Val McNulty, an up-and- coming corporate man. When a newlywed couple and two mothers occupy the same apartment, watch out!

Part of the pleasure of watching a black and white film from the early fifties is the setting. The outfits, cars, decor (check out the apartment's wallpaper: just amazing in its boldness!) add to the film's substance.

The romantic resolutions at the end of the film are satisfying, and make sense, not always a feature of light romantic comedies.

Thelma's Show

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 7 November 2008]

Though Gene Tierney and John Lund are the leads in this film, Thelma Ritter steals it completely as Lund's down to earth plebian mother from New Jersey. Thelma got one of her Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress, the second of six she was to earn in her career.

Mitchell Leisen directs this charming comedy about a pair of sudden newlyweds, she a débutante and him a working stiff reporter. They meet when Lund saves Tierney's life as she goes off the road and drives precariously on to a cliff's edge. Both abandon their respective prospective mates, Lund says goodbye to Jan Sterling and she to James Lorimer who also happens to be the son of Lund's boss Larry Keating.

Tierney's one nervous new bride wanting to make sure her first dinner party goes right and when Ritter comes knocking at her door, Tierney mistakes her for the new maid she wanted. God knows Thelma Ritter played enough maids in her career, it was an honest mistake. Then of course Lund can't quite break it to her, even after grand dame Miriam Hopkins as Tierney's mother arrives on the scene.

It all sounds real silly, but it actually does work, Leisen's direction and the talent of his cast actually carry this off.

Thelma Ritter went six times to the Oscars as a nominee for Best Supporting Actress and she could have won in any of those years. This year of 1951 her nomination and everything else that year had to face up against A Streetcar Named Desire and she lost to Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski.

Maybe she should have been up for Best Actress though I doubt Thelma Ritter would have won against Vivien Leigh. Still she's the main reason to see The Mating Season.

A Gem of a Film

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 1 February 2007]

This was a film I enjoyed from the beginning of this right to the end because of the funny story and the outstanding cast of great actors. Gene Tierney,( Maggie McNulty), "The Left Hand of God" meets John Lund, (Val McNulty), "Steel Town" and marries him immediately and has never even met his mother. Val McNulty's mother is Thelma Ritter, (Ellen McNulty), "Pillow Talk", who has a hamburger stand in Jersey City, New Jersey and is running into problems with her business and has to sell her hamburger stand and decides to pack up and visit her son. Ellen arrives at her daughter-in-law's apartment and gets mistaken as a cook who they are seeking to hire for a big party they are going to arrange. It is from this point in the picture that things start to get rather crazy where two mother-in-laws are living with the newlyweds and not realizing that the cook is Val's mother. This is a great 1951 Classic comedy with two great actresses Gene Tierney and Thelma Ritter. Don't miss this film, it is lots of fun to view.

Almost an "8"; Thelma Ritter shines

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 12 May 2014]

I was very tempted to give this film an "8", something I rarely do, and would have except for what I consider to be a couple of casting errors. Most importantly, something about John Lund just never seemed quite right to me in terms of being a leading man on the big screen. Sorry, but I can't put my finger on it, but he just doesn't ring true. For about a decade he did fairly well, but his career slowly fizzled out. The other casting error, although a relatively minor part, was that played by James Lorimer. Considering that he only ever appeared in 2 films, need I say more? On the other hand, the rose in this film isn't the leading lady, but rather the wonderful character actress Thelma Ritter, who earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role here. Ritter was something special, and never more so than here (although I loved her as well as in "With A Song In My Heart").

Gene Tierney, the actual leading lady, is quite appealing here. It's a nice, positive role. I usually find Miriam Hopkins shrill, but here, where she plays the other mother-in-law -- in this case the one from hell -- she's actually quite good and added a lot to the film. Jan Sterling has a small an unimpressive role. Larry Keating's role as Lund's boss was nice...could have been expanded a bit as he realized he was falling in love with Thelma Ritter.

The story's a good one, and in the larger sense, an old-reliable: class differences, this time in a young marriage when the cook turns out to the be husband's hamburger-slinging cook. Is the rich wife the snob, or is the comparatively poor husband the slob? That's the crux of the film.

It's a neat little package, and I'm glad to see it get such high marks.

Sweet movie!

[beyondtheforest · 10/10 · 1 February 2007]

This is joyful film-making, and what a cast! Thelma Ritter, always the best thing about the acclaimed ALL ABOUT EVE, is beyond delightful in her starring role. Gene Tierney, gowned by Oleg Cassini, at the peak of her beauty--and talented, too! These elements combined with a reliable supporting cast (including a perfectly snotty Miriam Hopkins), solid direction, and a great screenplay, make THE MATING SEASON a must-see (and, if possible, own)!

This is the kind of human comedy which can, and will, elevate or soften the mood of even the most ardent cynic. How can one resist the lovable Thelma Ritter in a role that must have been tailor made for her talents? Give this little-known gem a try.

Highly sympathetic comic-turn from Thelma Ritter anchors overstuffed marital mix-up...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 31 January 2007]

Thelma Ritter received a worthy Oscar nomination for her earthy performance as the proprietress of a diner who, due to lack of funds, has to leave the business behind and go to live with her son (miscast John Lund); he has just gotten married to a wealthy beauty with a harpy mother, and when Ritter is mistaken for the new cook, she accepts the job willingly. Though based upon a play, "The Mating Season" isn't stagy or static at all--in fact, just the opposite, it is too hectic and over-plotted for its own good. It isn't enough to have one deception going on, there are also incredibly involved confusions and assumptions with Lund's co-workers, their relatives and his boss. Lund is too icy to be comfortable as a newlywed (he'd be better cast as the villain of the piece), but Gene Tierney is lovely as his wife and Ritter is a delight. The movie isn't the frothy farce one might hope it'll be, but the fairy tale ending is sweet and there are some engaging characters along the way. **1/2 from ****

A Classic

[arslupae · 14 March 2003]

The other review of this movie got the plot wrong. Thelma Ritter is the MOTHER-IN-LAW of Gene Tierney, not her MOTHER. Ms. Ritter's son in the film, played by John Lund is the pretentious one. When his mother arrives to attend his wedding to the gently brought up Ms. Tierney, who is actually a sweetheart and a lady in the best sense of the word, he hands Thelma some cash to get a makeover, noting that she should especially purchase GLOVES, to hide her hands that have worked hard at a hamburger stand to put him through a fancy college. This guy is a real stinker!! Thelma ends up not going to the ceremony, fearful she will embarrass her jerk of a son. She then gets some jobs to buy a fantastic outfit so she can drop in on the newlyweds. When Ms. Ritter gets there, Gene Tierney thinks she is the cook she wanted, and latches on to her because Ms. Tierney is having her first dinner party, and she is in a state of panic and disaster. The plot revolves around the fact that Thelma stays on to help out, and swears her son to secrecy about who she is. There are absolutely SOLID GOLD performances by Miriam Hopkins, as Gene's snooty mother, and Larry Keating, as John Lund's down-to-earth boss. The best part of this movie is when Gene discovers the masquerade and tells her insensitive husband off, defending his mother as a wonderful, honorable woman. DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE !!

A real charmer

[Handlinghandel · 8/10 · 4 February 2007]

Mitchell Leisen directed three wonderful movies, one very good one, may fine ones, and some that weren't successful. No matter what one thinks of the hauteur theory, he was a fine stylist and that's not a bad track record.

The three beauties include this one. Also there are "Midnight," one of the most glamorous and charming of all screwball comedies, and "Easy Living." That may have been Jean Arthur at her very best (and most lovable.) (The very good one, in my view, is "Death Takes A Holiday.") Thelma Ritter carries this one. So, as she might say with a flip of a dust rag, "what else is new?" Indeed, she is one of the treasures of American movie history.

Here she is the mother of John Lund, who is not very appealing. She's as blue collar as blue collar can be. Lund has fallen for and married Gene Tierney. Her mother is played very stylishly by Miriam Hopkins. Well, which one would you want as a mother? Or a mother-in-law? Thing is, Thelma is mistaken for a maid when she arrives the day of Lund and Tierney's wedding and carries on this charade for most of the movie. It's sad, really. That part is rarely played for laughs and it is indeed far more poignant than funny.

Larry Keating is good as Lund's ultimate boss. The actor playing his son is a cipher and looks almost Keating's age.

But this is Ritter's movie. Does she steal scenes? Not discernibly, though I've heard her accused of doing that in other films. She steals the picture. And our hearts.

a gem

[ron-fernandez-pittsburgh · 10/10 · 12 December 2011]

Where has this romantic, comic gem been hiding all these years? Thank goodness for Netflix streaming. This is one that should have been on DVD long ago. IT's a keeper!! Misunderstandings and complications galore which makes this top notch entertainment. Thelma Ritter steals the film as the "mother-in-law" mistaken for a cook the two main characters. Wonderful denouncement and a very happy ending. All predictable, but so what? Ritter should have won the award for support actress that year. Nominated, but no win. I could watch this movie again and again, just to see Ritter. What great comic and sarcastic lines she was given to deliver. She does this like no one possibly could do. Gene Tierney looks great and also has great comic flair here. John Lund is more than up to his 'straight' role as husband/son. Miriam Hopkins also steals some scenes. Larry Keating plays a very nice person...just the opposite of his son. One of the better lines delivered by him to his son at the end is priceless. If you like 'older' movies, don't miss this one. Even if you don't like older movies...SEE THIS ONE.

Wonderful cast; old story - but all's well in the end

[eschetic · 7/10 · 13 May 2007]

It's impossible to say how faithful this well made if slightly maudlin slice of domestic trivia is to the play it was "suggested by" (something called "Maggie" - the name of the Gene Tierney bride character in the movie - that never played Broadway - no matter; neither did "Everybody Comes to Rick's" and that turned out all right), but the "suggested by" billing argues for "not very." Once it finally gets rolling - the first thirty minutes are given over to the maudlin old story of a genuinely nice young man, John Lund, marrying up and slightly ashamed of his past while trying not to show it - the fine cast (one of Thelma Ritter's many deserved Oscar nominations as the groom's working mother) makes the most of what becomes a charming domestic comedy of errors. "Mildred Pierce" this isn't - almost everyone in the film is "good people" and likable aside from the bride's ex-boyfriend who wants to steal the groom's business projects as well as break-up the marriage. Naturally, Ms. Ritter plants herself firmly in the way of any such schemes - much to her son's stunned consternation (having not found a way to tell his wife who the new "maid" is!).

When the bride's spoiled mother (Miriam Hopkins in one of her brightest performances) comes to stay, anything maudlin is long forgotten and high farce takes over. Slow starting the film may be, it winds up a delightful way to spend 100 minutes . . . mainly thanks to Ritter and the old studio system which provided her with a flawless supporting cast and direction.

Of side interest to anyone born after 1965, the wonderful set direction - especially of the McNulty apartment - is as perfect a recreation of a regular middle class home in the 50's from living room to bathroom and kitchen as you'll see on film. The little touches in the script (wealthy relatives tossing off references to a bright young man having signed a "loyalty oath" or their having gotten help from Mussolini before the war) are more unsettling, but just as perfectly atmospheric for nailing the place and time of the story.

Mitchell Leisin's last good film.

[theowinthrop · 9/10 · 25 March 2007]

It is not as philosophical as DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY or as amusing as MIDNIGHT or EASY LIVING or as well done as an historical film KITTY, but THE MATING SEASON represents the last time that Mitchell Leisin got a good film with at least one first rate performance in it - that of the fourth lead, Thelma Ritter.

Her role is that of the mother of John Lund. Lund is a junior executive in a mid-western firm owned by Larry Keating, and has owed all of his success as a result of his mother's sacrifices to get him a good education (in New York University, of all places). Ritter did it alone (Lund's father died of alcoholism years earlier). But to do it has taken a toll - her hamburger joint is foreclosed on at the start of the film, and she is not really happy about telling her son about this, especially as he has just met and married Gene Tierney, who is a more glamorous, and socially more classy type than Lund is used to.

Still she comes to the apartment of Lund and Tierney. The latter is expecting people answering her advertisement for a cook and house keeper. Before Ritter can straighten out her misconception, Tierney hires Ritter for the job. She starts right in, and since that night there is a major party for Keating and the executives of Lund's firm (including Keating's son, James Lorimer, as a particularly obnoxious snob), Tierney puts her to work immediately. The party is doing well until a double disaster occurs: Lorimer causes Keating to get covered by some food, and Lund discovers who is doing the first rate cooking they have been partaking in.

Keeping quiet, but with a growing sense of fear of discovery, Lund watches for an opportunity to speak to Ritter. Meanwhile she helps to quickly clean up Keating, and to point out that he should wear a lighter type of suit for his appearance. It is the start of Keating taking a serious interest in Ritter.

Despite what Lund wants, he never has any chance to straighten the error out. This is especially true when Tierney's obnoxious mother (Miriam Hopkins) shows up. To Hopkins a servant is useful but not to be heard (except if speaking in the most respectful tones). Hopkins does not care much for Lund for his background, despite his attempts to earn a living to support her daughter (whom he loves). And when she overhears and sees certain behavior at night, she is sure that her son-in-law is a sexual weirdo.

The film is an interesting study in social climbing and snobbery. Lund wants to ascend to high executive position based on his abilities, and finds Lorimer gleefully standing in his way (for personal reasons - he liked Tierney too). His hesitancy is partly due to circumstances, but also it is embarrassing to him to admit his mother was a professional cook. Hopkins is a scatterbrained twit, who has met some interesting people (including Benito Mussolini) and been asked to write her memoirs. The worst snob is Cora Witherspoon, as the wife of a businessman from Maryland who is interested in dealing with Keating's firm. She looks down upon people for laughing too loud! In the end the ones who are least snobby are Keating (who cant' stand his son as a result), Ritter, and Tierney.

Ritter has the best lines in the film, delivered in that wonderful understated, realistic way that was all her own. Hopkins, in comparison, is all flamboyance and pose, but makes the most of her histrionics. Tierney has two great moments telling off two characters for their character flaws, and Keating's dry wit nicely augments the roles of the others. Only Lund seems too stiff at times - about this time some of the naturalistic abilities he showed in TOO EACH HIS OWN and MISS TATLOCK'S MILLIONS and A FOREIGN AFFAIR began to fossilize into a personal stuffiness. But he too rises at the conclusion in a final confrontation to prove he is not a total snob.

It was the best ensemble acting of the final Leisin films, even having a whiff of recognition from an earlier one (some of "Mona Lisa", first played in CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A. is played towards the end). Leisin had, reportedly, problems controlling Miriam Hopkins in the filming. Maybe, but the final result was still pretty good for all the trouble.

Implausaible and a bit zany, but that's the idea. Fun and funny.

[secondtake · 7/10 · 11 March 2011]

The Mating Season (1951)

A madcap, bright Paramount comedy, not quite screwball in its structure but a zany situation with a mother-in-law in inadvertent disguise and wife and an ex-girlfriend still after the husband. The centerpieces of the action are two or three big parties in a suburban styled apartment, a true 1950s dream in a way. The situation is so absurd and extended for so long it requires a huge effort to look the other way and just enjoy it, but heck, if you can, it's good for a lot of laughs, and a good time. And it's very 1950s innocent, which is cute and weird both, as when the husband curses out loud saying, "Oh, Milwaukee!" Haha. The writer, Charles Brackett, is again brilliant holding it together.

The apparent central character is played by Gene Tierney, and it's sometimes a festival of Tierney worship, both of her "figure" and her charm. And if she looks good, and she has tons of charm at the right times, she does not have what you might call plain old housewife cheer. And that's what she's intended to have, a kind of chipper Donna Reed, playing bad cook and awkward wife, very much in love with her husband (a dependable if unexciting John Lund). Tierney is the key problem beyond the absurdity of the plot, which is expected. I know there are those who think she can do no wrong, but you might be struck with her limitations here. When she is cool, or simply lovely, she's great. When she is the ditzy and perky "girl" she's strained and almost terrible. Which is probably good in some other sense--who wants ditzy chipper girls, anyway? But here that's her job.

The real central character is the mother in law, played with usual panache and worldly humor by Thelma Ritter. She saves all her scenes beautifully. Tierney's mother appears as well, played with expected upper crust nerve by Miriam Hopkins. It's inevitable that the two older women meet, and the fact this is happening without Tierney knowing what is happening (at first) is both the humor and the strain.

One repeating irritation for me is the device comedies like this use where the audience knows something the characters do not. But there has to be some sense of how this could actually be true. It's sustained too often by having someone start to tell someone else the truth, and then they don't, either because of interruption, or because they just decide not to. Even though they really have to.

But once you get used to this outlandishness, and see some other threads in the increasingly complex plot, you appreciate what is happening. The second half avoids some of the overt silliness of the first half, and it becomes a "sophisticated" comedy (which Brackett is known for--after all, he just finished writing "Sunset Blvd.") and it gets better and better. By the end, I was so happy for everyone I forgave the movie its flaws. The laugh ends up on me. Check it out!

Cooking Up Comedy for Thelma Ritter

[wes-connors · 8/10 · 19 September 2011]

In debt to the Jersey City bank, hard-working widow Thelma Ritter (as Ellen) gives up her hamburger stand and hitchhikes by pick-up truck and school bus to visit earnest son John Lund (as Val McNulty) in Meridian, Ohio. Meanwhile, Mr. Lund has rescued beautiful socialite Gene Tierney (as Maggie Carleton) from a bad date with the boss' son. Lund and Ms. Tierney immediately get the urge to mate. When Ms. Ritter meets her new daughter-in-law, Tierney mistakes her for the cook...

Down on her luck, Ritter agrees to work incognito as maid in her son's apartment. The funny situation gets funnier when Tierney's uppity mother Miriam Hopkins (as Fran) arrives for an extended visit. Producer Charles Brackett and director Mitchell Leisen wisely keep the focus on Ritter, who turned her inappropriate fourth-billing into "Best Supporting Actress" nominations from the "Film Daily", "Golden Globes" and "Academy Awards" groups. In this one, Ritter is the star.

******** The Mating Season (1/12/51) Mitchell Leisen ~ Thelma Ritter, John Lund, Gene Tierney, Miriam Hopkins

A One-Joke Affair!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 14 September 2016]

With all its incessant chatter-chatter-chatter, this entry in the movie comedy stakes was very obviously adapted from a stage play (by Caesar Dunn). I don't know anything about the play, but as a movie, this talky romantic comedy hasn't a great deal to recommend it.

True, Miss Tierney is attractive and all the players go through their paces without putting a foot wrong, but the one-joke situation just wasn't particularly funny to begin with. If the satire were a bit more astringent, the movie might have succeeded as a comedy of manners.

True, production values are quite lavish, but overall the film doesn't offer a great deal in the way of solid entertainment.

An Under-appreciated Romantic Comedy

[sylkenvelvet · 8/10 · 7 March 2008]

Thelma Ritter is the whole reason for this film. She's the lynch pin, and the best part. If you liked her in All About Eve or A Letter to Three Wives, you have to see her in this movie.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** (no ending giveaways)

Ellen McNulty (Ritter) leaves her Jersey hamburger stand to the bank and heads to Ohio, where her son, Val, an eager young professional at the Kalinger Machine Works, has just fallen in love at first sight with the beautiful Maggie Carleton.

This movie is built on the typical stock for romantic comedies -- mistaken identity and people who either won't talk or won't listen. Val is torn between wanting to move up to a higher social level and wanting to take care of his mother. Ellen doesn't want to interfere with her son's marriage, but she knows his young bride needs her help, so she takes advantage of Maggie having mistaken her for a cook to move in as the maid. Toss in Maggie's know-it-all ways and reluctance to let anyone else talk, Maggie's own snobbish, selfish mother, and Maggie's former beau (and Val's boss) Junior Kalinger, and you have all the misunderstandings and mistakes you could want to test the strength of true love.

There are no perfect people in this movie, which just adds to the sweetness. Val is caught between expectations of success and deep feelings of duty to the mother who he knows sacrificed so much for him. Maggie is struggling to avoid the snobbery and arrogance that have colored her life as an ambassador's daughter even while she exhibits some of the very traits she dislikes in others. And Ellen, in seeking to do good on her own terms, builds a web of small lies that come apart at the end, creating the movie's crisis.

It's Thelma Ritter's performance as Ellen that make the movie's assorted confusions and complications hang together. Playing another in a long line of working class women with good hearts and more common sense than average, she has most of the good lines and best scenes. Gene Tierney and John Lund have a nice chemistry between them which lends credence to their whirlwind romance, and Marian Hopkins as Mrs. Carleton is overacting her silk stockings off to good effect. The chemistry between Ritter and Lund is even better than that between him and Tierney -- they have some great bits that are all gesture and expression. It's Ritter's movie from start to finish.

Thelma At Her Best

[ldeangelis-75708 · 7/10 · 14 March 2023]

This movie is worth watching for another great performance by the one and only Thelma Ritter, playing Ellen McNulty, former owner of a hamburger stand, who comes to visit her son, Val (John Lund) in Ohio and gets mistaken for the cook by her new daughter-in-law, Maggie (Gene Tierney). Maggie has an upper-class background, and her snobbish chatterbox of a mother (Miriam Hopkins as Fran Carleton) thinks she's married beneath her. Ellen talks a reluctant Val into continuing to let Maggie think she's the hired help, which leads to quite a bit of trouble. Things aren't helped by George Kalinger, Jr. (James Lorimer), Maggie's ex-boyfriend who doesn't know when to admit defeat.

Aside from Ellen, everyone else I could have done without. Maggie can be annoying and childish, Val's a dim bulb half the time, Fran will make you run for earplugs, and George is a real jerk! If anyone else but Thelma was playing Ellen, I'd take a way a few stars and recommending skipping this film.

Another movie with familiar TV faces: George Kalinger Sr. Is played by Larry Keating (Harry Morton on "Burns and Allen" and Addison on "Mr. Ed") and Ellen's friend, Annie is played by Ellen Corby, better known as Grandma Walton.

Thelma And Gene

[GTDMAC · 8/10 · 1 February 2007]

Witty, amusing, and even funny at times, this muddled mash of a movie has the luck of showing off Thelma Ritter's considerable acting talents alongside Gene Tierney's incomparable grace and beauty. Ellen McNulty is written as a very believable and charming character and clearly Thelma makes it hers. Her sense of timing and tone are perfect and it's easy to believe she was cheated out of an Oscar.

Gene Tierney continues to amaze in another delightful performance as the beautiful society girl turned housewife, Maggie Carleton, who can't be rid of her mother to save her life! Of course, Ellen will do everything to make sure the couple gets off the ground but even she can't stop the convoluted plot which has Gene going from one emotional extreme to another in what I felt was a bit much to ask from her. Her usual demeanor is one of cool and when she had to portray anger and rage in the movie it seemed she was also expressing frustration with a script that was more dramatic than you would expect from a light-hearted farce like this. That said, this is a very nice performance from her and worthy of a second look.

When they cast John Lund for this part they must have been thinking that Val McNulty was a ruthless businessman who mysteriously wins Maggie away from equally ruthless "Junior." If so, he gives a great performance as a stressed out frustrated newlywed. Too bad his performance isn't more sympathetic but I blame that more on the script and the plot innuendos than on his talent. He clearly tries very hard to make a very confusing movie role work even when the plot twists get a little too silly. That said, it did appear he was miscast for this role. He's not completely believable as someone debutante Maggie would fall for. He's better as a heavy and it's obvious he's a little too much so for this lighthearted role. Seeing him makes me think of what it would have been like if Dana Andrews, Tierney's love interest in "Laura", tried to do comedy. I can't imagine any different results.

Overall, this is a romantic comedy that tries too hard. Thelma and Gene hold it together but when they aren't on screen even Larry Keating can't keep the audience's interest for long. However, watch if for when they are on screen because then the magic happens and you see two of maybe the 4 best actresses at the time in their full glory.

So cute!

[swinms · 14 May 2007]

I stumbled upon this movie on TMC. It was shown as part of a trilogy of "mother movies" on Mothers Day. I had never heard of it but was quickly drawn in by Thelma Ritter in the opening scene. Thelma had fourth billing but she was really the star. It's a sweet movie but predictable. I loved the cars, the sets, the costumes, the implausibility of the plot. Although the story had some serious moments and a morality lesson about snobbery, it was really just an opportunity to showcase Thelma Ritter doing what she does best - wisecracking, dispensing sage but sometimes caustic advice, and stealing all the scenes. Even the glamorous Gene Tierney and the best scene-stealer of all time, Miriam Hopkins, couldn't hold their own against Thelma. Interesting also to see Ellen Corby 20+ years before her Waltons fame. See the movie for Thelma Ritter. You'll laugh out loud.