''I Love Melvin'' is a 1953 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

musical

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Don Weis Don Weis (May 13, 1922 – July 26, 2000) was an American film and television director. Biography Weis was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Emma (née Wiener; 1889–1971) and Meyer Weis (1886-1942). He graduated from the University of Southern ...

, starring

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His b ...

and Debbie Reynolds. According to

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

records, the film earned $1,316,000 in the United States and Canada and $654,000 overseas, resulting in a loss of $290,000.

Plot

Small-time actress Judy Schneider dreams of becoming a Hollywood star even as she struggles along playing a human football in a kitschy Broadway musical. One day in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

she bumps into Melvin, the bumbling assistant to a '' Look'' magazine photographer. Melvin is smitten with Judy and endures disapproval from her father who wants her to marry Harry Flack, the boring heir to a paper box company. He exaggerates his importance at the magazine in order to impress Judy and her family and promises to get her on the cover, using the photo shoots as an excuse to spend time with her. His charade is exposed when her picture doesn't appear on the cover and she discovers that he is just a lowly assistant. Too ashamed to face her, Melvin abandons his job and disappears into Central Park. While hiding in the Park he sees Judy's picture on the cover of ''Look'' and discovers that the editor made her a cover girl so he would see it and come out of hiding.

Cast

as Melvin Hoover * Debbie Reynolds as Judy Schneider Judy LeRoy *

Una Merkel Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...

as Mom Schneider *

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin ( Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers ( Lindsay Wagner) i ...

as Harry Flack *

Allyn Joslyn Allyn Joslyn (July 21, 1901 – January 21, 1981) was an American stage, radio, television and film actor, known for his roles playing aristocratic wealthy snobs. Biography Allyn Joslyn was born in Milford, Pennsylvania, the son of a mining en ...

as Frank Schneider *

Les Tremayne Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was an English actor. Early life Born in Balham, London, he moved with his family at the age of four to Chicago, Illinois, where he began in community theater. His mother was Dolly Trema ...

as Mr. Henneman *

Noreen Corcoran Noreen Margaret Corcoran (October 20, 1943 – January 15, 2016) was an American film and television actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Gregg in the American sitcom television series '' Bachelor Father''. Early years Corcoran was born ...

as Clarabelle Schneider *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

as Mergo *

Barbara Ruick Barbara Ruick (December 23, 1930 – March 3, 1974) was an American actress and singer. Early years Ruick was the daughter of actors Lurene Tuttle and Melville Ruick, and grew up acting out scenes with dolls, employing her mother as an ...

as Studio Guide * Robert Taylor as himself (cameo appearance in Judy's dream)

Music

Lyrics by Mack Gordon, and music by Josef Myrow #"Lady Loves" (Debbie Reynolds) #"We Have Never Met as Yet" (Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor) #"Saturday Afternoon Before the Game" (Chorus) #"Where Did You Learn to Dance" (Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor) #"I Wanna Wander" (Donald O'Connor) #"Life Has Its Funny Ups and Downs" (Noreen Corcoran)

Comic book adaptation

Eastern Color The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 19 ...

Movie Love #20 (April 1953)

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Love Melvin 1953 films 1953 musical comedy films 1953 romantic comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s romantic musical films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Films about photojournalists Films adapted into comics Films directed by Don Weis Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by George Wells Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s American films