Love Nest (1951)

With my recent emphasis on viewing all the Oscar Best Picture winners I hadn’t yet seen, and the generally weighty nature of said films, I decided I need to see something light and inconsequential. I selected Love Nest because it had then future Tonight Show host Jack Parr in it, playing a lawyer who serves as love interest to Marlyin Monroe, then on the cusp of her stardom (its doubtful that without Monroe’s presence this film would have ever been released to DVD). The nominal stars of the film are William Ludigan, who plays a solder just returned from the second World War, and June Havre as his wife, who has sunk their savings into an aging apartment building for which they will serve as land lords. Of course the building proves a money pit, and some of the tenets are characters. The biggest character is Frank Fay, who plays a kind of good natured con man and gives the performance of the film, as well as ultimately saving the day. Light and likable despite taking a little while to get going. Three out of Five.