Watch But Not for Me For Free

Thanks for the memories!

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I'm quite an admirer of Clark Gable, particularly in his later films. Last night I watched "Gone With The Wind" for about the 30th time, and just marveled at his performance.This film is one of the few Gable films I had never seen...and as far as I'm concerned, a great disappointment.It's supposed to be a light romantic comedy, but I found it depressing and slightly vulgar. Oddly enough, the movie is about producing a play, and had they followed the script of the play more, it might have worked...as a serious film.The three primaries here are Clark Gable (who is supposed to be old, and certainly acts it; he plays a Boradway producer); Carroll Baker (as the young woman attracted to the older man; too bad...I was just beginning to enjoy her films); Lilli Palmer (as the ex and future wife of Gable; do we really like plotting women?); and then there's the added attraction of Lee J. Cobb in what must have been a disappointing role as a playwright..My recommendation is to skip this one and skip right to "It Started In Naples" or "Teacher's Pet".

For fans of classic Hollywood, a sub-par Clark Gable film is STILL well worth seeing. This is exactly the case for "But Not For Me"--an adequate film made better simply because it stars Gable.Gable plays Russ Ward--a somewhat vain Broadway producer who is nearing the end of his career. He's low on money, low on successes and high on energy. However, his newest play seems destined to bomb and after talking it over with his accountants, he's decided to can the project and retire. But, when Ward's very young secretary, Ellie (Carol Baker) confesses her love for him, it inspires Ward to incorporate this into the play--and he suddenly reverses himself and decides to produce it.This is an odd case of real life, a movie and a play all getting intermingled. While some might complain about the aging Gable starring with a very young lady, this works for me because the film is all about the difficulties of such a romance. Decent acting and the wonderful supporting work by Lee J. Cobb make this one worth seeing even with its shortcomings.

At the tail end of his film career Clark Gable made a series of movies where his co-stars were not in his age group. Up to 1956 his co-stars might have been younger than him (Lana Turner comes to mind) but more frequently they were still in their late 30s to early 50s like Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, or Eleanor Parker. Then, at the tail end of the 1950s Gable made four movies where his co-stars were not within fifteen years of his age. These were TEACHER'S PET (with Doris Day), BUT NOT FOR ME (with Carol Baker), IT STARTED IN NAPLES (with Sophia Loren), and THE MISFITS (with Marilyn Monroe). In at least three of these films the co-star was as big a star as Gable. The exception is Baker, a promising actress in the period but one that never hit the same height of stardom as the others (her best recalled film role was HARLOW - ironically she played a great movie star who had fequently appeared opposite the young Gable). But if Baker lacked the magnetism of Day, Loren, or Monroe, her support to Gable is shared by an actress in his own age group again - Lily Palmer. And Palmer does her job very nicely.In BUT NOT FOR ME Gable's character - a Broadway Producer - revives his career and that of a once prize-winning playwrite (Lee J. Cobb) when he discovers his secretary (Baker) is in love with him, and is trying to keep his latest production (Cobb's recent play) from being discarded as a failure. Baker revitalizes Gable, and makes him think of remarrying. He was once married to his leading stage lady (Palmer) who divorced him because of differences over lifestyle and life choices. Palmer, who oozes grace and charm, wanted a husband who was interested in home life with her. Gable was too into his production and impressario career, as well as enjoying living life to the most publicly fullest. However, as she watches Gable, Baker, and Cobb rework the play and make it work, Palmer slowly sees Gable bending over to make himself seem younger than he is. In fact a running joke in the film is Gable's confusion of his birth date and age, seemingly making it about ten or five years earlier than it is.But Palmer keeps bringing Gable and Baker back to earth about their age differences. When Gable takes Baker into Central Park for a romantic moment alone on a bench, Palmer shows up, and gleefully remembers how he took her there too...years before. Gable does not appreciate this ("Are you sure it's safe to be alone here at this late hour?", he asks Palmer. "You might get stabbed!"). Eventually Gable sees the light...he and Palmer end up together again at the end, her helping him with his various pills in the closing moments of the film.The operative word in the film is charm. Not only Palmer in needling Gable back to his senses, but also (surprisingly) Cobb, as he reforms from his hard drinking failure to his sober success. Even Thomas Gomez is funny in this film, playing a character based on Greek movie theatre tycoon Spyros Skouras. Cobb dislikes money men (Gomez is a potential play backer), and tells Gomez so, saying "Who financed Shaw?" "Who financed Shakespeare?" "Who financed Sophocles?" An angry and fed-up Gomez shouts, "I did!" Taken aback, Cobb asks, "You?". "Sure", says Gomez, "And the production flopped. Why do you suppose I left Greece to come here?"A friendly little film to watch, and possibly a wise one.

One of those bubbly late-'50s romantic comedies that thinks it's cleverer than it is and seems terribly pleased with itself. The actors grit their teeth and play the familiar froth as if it were Moliere, and you admire them for trying. Gable is Gable, unforced and likeable but not a natural comedian, and Palmer gives her bitchy character a warmth not found in the dialogue. The movie's main asset is the handsome black-and-white photography of midtown Manhattan (I'd like to have seen more marquees), and the nostalgic ambience of that long-ago era when theater was actually a topic of discourse among the general population.