"The Model and the Marriage Broker" is not at all what I expected. After all, considering it stars Thelma Ritter you'd expect it to be a comedy. However, the film is a bitter-sweet drama about loneliness and it's a radical departure from the usual Ritter roles.
When the film begins, Mae Swasey has a small business hooking up lonely and sad people. This is actually the best part of the film, as there is a scene with spinster Nancy Kulp that is brutally poignant.
Purely by chance, Mae meets a pretty but lonely model, Kitty (Jeanne Crain). She has every reason to be happy--she's beautiful, successful and young. But she's selling herself short--choosing to pin her hopes on a real bum. The nosy Mae decides to help Kitty at no cost...sort of a pet project. What follows is an interesting love story with many interesting points to make about loneliness, marriage and happiness. It also reveals things about Mae that might just surprise you. And, in an odd reversal, there's a bit of matchmaking...for Mae!
Overall, an interesting film and one worth seeing.
When the film begins, Mae Swasey has a small business hooking up lonely and sad people. This is actually the best part of the film, as there is a scene with spinster Nancy Kulp that is brutally poignant.
Purely by chance, Mae meets a pretty but lonely model, Kitty (Jeanne Crain). She has every reason to be happy--she's beautiful, successful and young. But she's selling herself short--choosing to pin her hopes on a real bum. The nosy Mae decides to help Kitty at no cost...sort of a pet project. What follows is an interesting love story with many interesting points to make about loneliness, marriage and happiness. It also reveals things about Mae that might just surprise you. And, in an odd reversal, there's a bit of matchmaking...for Mae!
Overall, an interesting film and one worth seeing.