I Love Melvin

I Love Melvin
I Love Melvin
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Don Weis
Screenplay by	George Wells; Ruth Brooks Flippen;
Story by	Laszlo Vadnay
Produced by	George Wells
Starring	Donald O'Connor; Debbie Reynolds; Una Merkel; Richard Anderson; Allyn Joslyn;
Cinematography	Harold Rosson
Edited by	Adrienne Fazan
Music by	George Stoll
Production; company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's, Inc.
Release date	March 20, 1953;
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.3 million
Box office	$1.9 million

I Love Melvin is a 1953 American Technicolor musical romantic comedy film directed by Don Weis, starring Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.^[3]

The film's most famous scene depicts Reynolds playing a human American football in a dance sequence. The movie reunited Reynolds and O'Connor after their 1952 smash hit Singin' in the Rain, However, according to MGM records, the film earned $1,316,000 in the United States and Canada and $654,000 overseas, resulting in a loss of $290,000.^[1]

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 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

Donald O'Connor as Melvin Hoover
Debbie Reynolds as Judy Schneider a.k.a. Judy LeRoy
Una Merkel as Mom Schneider
Richard Anderson as Harry Flack
Allyn Joslyn as Frank Schneider
Les Tremayne as Mr. Henneman
Noreen Corcoran as Clarabelle Schneider
Jim Backus as Mergo
Barbara Ruick 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 Movie Love #20 (April 1953)^[4]

Notes

^ Additional dialogue

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study
^ "The Top Box Office Hits of 1953". Variety. January 13, 1954. ISSN 0042-2738.
^ Crowther, Bosley (2008). "New York Times: I Love Melvin". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
^ "Movie Love #20". Grand Comics Database.