Come Live With Me (1941)

The mistress (Hedy Lamarr) of a wealthy married man (Ian Hunter) is threatened with deportation after her temporary visa expires. To remain in the country, she proposes marriage to a penniless writer (James Stewart) but it is a marriage in name only. The marriage allows her to remain in the country and she will provide funds for him to live on while he writes his novel. Directed by Clarence Brown (NATIONAL VELVET), this is a low key romantic comedy that you know where it will end but it's the complicated journey that is our main interest. It's rather charming in an anemic way. The film is lucky to have Stewart and Lamarr as its stars as it is their "Movie Star" screen presence that holds our attention and overrides the film's often predictable screenplay. As expected from a 1940s MGM film, the production values are first rate including a lovely underscore by Herbert Stothart. With Verree Teasdale, Donald Meek, Barton MacLane, Ann Codee, Frank Faylen, Horace MacMahon and Adeline De Walt Reynolds.