Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
liked it.
Perennial supporting player
Thelma Ritter got a rare shot at playing a lead in The Model and the Marriage Broker and came up with a real winner.
Model is an excellent little comedy, so good that it's surprising that it's not better known. Practically everyone involved is in top form, from Ritter and co-star
Jeanne Crain through director
George Cukor and a three-man writing team led by
Charles Brackett. Brackett could almost always write funny, and this screenplay is filled with choice turns of phrases and amusing little asides, the humor of which doesn't always strike the viewer until minutes after they've passed on. But the writers don't sacrifice character and drama for laughs; there's an undercurrent of sadness and melancholy to many moments, and while some of Ritter's clients are humorous misfits, they're treated with a degree of respect. Cukor's direction is sleek and seamless, beautifully paced and always aware of exactly how light or heavy a touch is needed in each moment of each scene. Ritter is so darn good that it makes one wish they had written more starring parts for her; her rare combination of toughness and warmth is used to great advantage and holds the film together. Even Crain, never what one would call a great actress, comes off very well here, and the supporting roster of
Nancy Kulp,
Zero Mostel, and
Frank Fontaine is a dream. The Model and the Marriage Broker has a few flaws, such as the fact that
Scott Brady's character is a bit overbearing (though typical of the period) -- but they're easily overlooked. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide