We're Not Married

We're Not Married (1952) is a film with five parallel stories.

First, the set up. A new justice of the peace jumps the gun on his appointment and performs five marriages before he has the authority to do so. Several years later, the mistake is discovered, and they notify the five couples by letter that they are not legally married.

Ginger Rogers and Fred Allen have a popular Mr. and Mrs. radio show, but do not get along, and don't even speak to one another off the air.
Marilyn Monroe competes in beauty pageants, while husband David Wayne takes care of their baby and plays house husband. The fact that they are not married makes her ineligible for the Mrs. America pageant, which she already won the state title for, but makes her eligible for the Miss America pageant, which is much more lucrative.
Eve Arden and husband Paul Douglas are settled into a rather boring routine, but he fantasizes about his carefree bachelor days when he gets the news.
Zsa Zsa Gabor want to divorce rich husband Louis Calhern and take advantage of the community property laws.
Mitzi Gaynor is expecting her first child, and husband Eddie Bracken is being shipped off for overseas duty. He is desperate to remarry her before the boat leaves, so his baby won't be illegitimate.

In each of these early Marilyn films, her star quality was very much in evidence, and clearly Marilyn had become a rising star by the time this one came along. When she is on camera, she is the focus of attention, and she exudes a sense of sexiness and helplessness that is irresistible. It wasn't until later that she began to seriously study acting, but she was charismatic even without great acting skills.

NUDITY REPORT

None. Marilyn Monroe wore bathing suits.

DVD info from Amazon

bare bones, no widescreen

The light comedy/dramas of that era generally had a happy ending for everyone, and this was no exception. For those not familiar with the actresses named above, this is an incredibly star-studded cast for its era. Unfortunately, I saw little humor, and it was my least favorite of the Marilyn films of that 1951-52 era.

The Critics Vote ...

TV Guide scores it 2.5/5

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 6.1/10

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a C.