No Time for Love

Sexy sophisticated photographer Colbert falls for lunkhead tunnel worker. A variation on the old independent city girl falls for ordinary joe that worked in both Mr. Smith and Mr.Deeds Goes to Town. The scenes inside the construction tunnel are pretty well done and Colbert is always great . McMurry is a little hard to swallow as the hunky construction "Superman!?" I think I'm in better shape and I'm 59. Still both are excellent comedy actors so it makes this enjoyable enough.

High-minded famed modern photographer Katherine Grant (Claudette Colbert) quits Mirror Magazine once again after arguing with the editor. Publisher Henry Fulton has a crush on her and forces him to apologize. She insists that she doesn't get preferential treatment and the editor promptly sends her into the tunnel construction under the river. Her presence causes an accident leading to meathead sandhog Jim Ryan (Fred MacMurray) getting into a fight. She starts dreaming about the hunk and decides to confront it. Henry releases a picture of Ryan fighting causes him to be suspended. Katherine hires him as her assistant and rom-com chaos ensues. I like the pairing of Colbert and MacMurray. The actors have a nice chemistry with physical comedy and biting lines. The main drawback is that MacMurray doesn't fit the meathead role. He can play clueless but once he put on a suit and bow tie, he no longer fits the blue collar superman hunk character anymore. I would love to see this remade. This is a fun silly little rom-com.

Claudette Colbert is a busy, successful and rather self-satisfied photographer on a popular picture magazine. Sent to do a story on a crew tunneling under the river, she encounters brash and beefy laborer Fred MacMurray. Not surprisingly, the two complete opposites take an instant dislike to each other. It's equally not surprising when they can't stay away from each other. Yes, the plot is pretty predictable, but Colbert and MacMurray manage to entertain nevertheless. Fred is the kind of guy who talks tough but is nobody's fool when it comes to using his brains when he needs to invent a new machine to get his work done. Claudette, on the other hand, lives the intellectual life among magazine editors and pianists-but, it turns out, isn't afraid to get her feet muddy when it comes to helping a friend. Rhys Williams is a good sport as MacMurray's pal from the tunnel. June Havoc is just right as the dancer who hangs out with Fred but can't compete with Claudette: fun-loving, slightly obnoxious, and just sympathetic enough that we almost feel bad for her. Highlights include a sequence in the tunnel where mud is seeping through the walls and MacMurray's team-and Colbert-are in it up to their waists. There's also a hilarious bit where Colbert convinces the men to play musical chairs instead of throwing a fight. (They try it, it turns into a fight.) Quite enjoyable, overall, thanks mainly to the personalities of the two stars. Colbert and MacMurray really are hard to resist.

No Time For Love finds Claudette Colbert as an acclaimed news photographer who draws an assignment shooting pictures of the sandhogs digging a new river tunnel. When she photographs a beefy Fred MacMurray in a fight with some fellow workers, he draws a suspension and she falls for him. But he's not part of her world, in fact she's engaged somewhat to Paul McGrath who is the publisher of the magazine she works for. But the two of them can't seem to get enough of each other's company, even with MacMurray putting some moves on burlesque dancer June Havoc. MacMurray and Colbert were a pretty good screen team with films ranging from the very serious Maid Of Salem to the sophisticated Gilded Lily to the rustic The Egg And I. But No Time For Love just doesn't quite measure up to those other movies. At times the story just seems silly rather than funny. Highlight of the film is the musical chairs game played sandhog style. Let's say this is a party game these guys both take seriously and party hearty with. There's also a nice scene where Colbert hires body builder Jerome DeNuccio to pose and make MacMurray jealous and he also deals with him sandhog style. Richard Haydn also has a nice part as a friend of Colbert's who thinks she and MacMurray are really suited for each other, try as they might to fight against it. No Time For Love is a good film, but not up to the comedy standards the leads have both separately and together.

Thoroughly mediocre and predictable. Claudette Colbert is a photographer for a Life Magazine clone. (Kids: Still photographs were very popular in 1943 because nobody had hand-held video cameras yet.) Her assignment: Take pictures of the "Sandhogs" working in caissons under the East River. An accident, Sandhog Fred MacMurray is fired, and Colbert hires him as an assistant out of guilt. Guess what happens by the end. There's no real point in going on about this movie because it doesn't deserve any close scrutiny. MacMurray is a he-man who gets into fist fights with his fellow sweaty, shirtless Sandhogs all the time, but it's never serious. He decks three of them at once. Colbert -- well, Claudette Colbert seemed to be forever getting caught up in some plot with a bemuscled, beef-brained behemoth, didn't she? Beginning with "It Happened One Night," with no-nonsense Clark Gable, and continuing through the next decade with "No Reservations", co-starring a no-nonsense John Wayne. I can't recommend it but my taste is warped and some may find the movie tinged with pique. If so, they haven't seen a movie in a long time.

In New York City, "Mirror" magazine photographer Claudette Colbert (as Katherine Grant) is scolded for not including enough "leg" in her pictures. Apparently, Ms. Colbert's termination is par for the course, and she remains a successful employee. For her next assignment, Colbert is sent to photograph men digging an underground tunnel. The muscular "sandhogs" think women in the dangerous workplace are bad luck; consequently, they adopt homosexual mannerisms. Sure enough, an accident occurs. Colbert meets arrogant Fred MacMurray (as Jim Ryan). Called "Superman" by co-workers, after the comic book character, Mr. MacMurray is tall and muscular. He beats up weaker men and forces a kiss on Colbert... A aroused Colbert has dreams featuring MacMurray as a flying super-man. She hires him as her personal photographer's assistant. MacMurray shows off a great physique in a long shirtless scene; for most of his career, he was seen in suit and tie. Reportedly, "No Time for Love" inspired the creation of Fawcett's super-hero "Captain Marvel" (herein, he is clearly meant to evoke National/DC comics' "Superman"). When people noted the film was released in 1943, too late to inspire "Captain Marvel", the association was dropped. MacMurray is still said to have inspired the hero, however. He does look the part, although neither "Captain Marvel" nor "Superman" would act like the violent, womanizing character he plays. **** No Time for Love (11/10/43) Mitchell Leisen ~ Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Ilka Chase, Richard Haydn

Yes, it is dated and sexist and kinda clichéd. You can also say that for most comedies of this era. BUT - this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It has it all: snappy dialogue, perfectly delivered by a stellar cast; loads of broad physical humor; moments you won't believe got past the censors: Ryan: it was so late when I finished, that-- Katherine: Finished what? Ryan: Are you kidding? Colbert and MacMurray's supporting cast really shine too. June Havoc as the ditsy Darlene ("Hey, my face was open!"), Richard Haydn as Roger, the composer ("What am I supposed to do here, there isn't even a piano!") and of course, Ilka Chase as Katherine's sister Hoppy, who delivers one of the best comedic lines in movie history: "Doorbells should ring once, then electrocute the ringer." This has been one of my favorite films for years, so I was thrilled when it was finally released on DVD as part of a Claudette Colbert collection. Do yourself a favor and pick it up...there are five other fun films in the collection, but none top "No Time for Love."

Claudette Colbert is a photographer who takes pictures for Mirror Magazine. a current events and topics sheet of a kind. When she's sent on assignment to cover "sandhogs" who are tunneling for the city's sewer, etc. she discovers sweaty, shirtless men underground and Fred MacMurray is one of them. Of course, they do not hit it off well in the beginning. With his swagger, ego, and his obvious gruff way with women, the viewer can see he's used to a certain type of woman and to taking what he wants. But his he-man attitude is lost on her. Or so, she says. She winds up dreaming about this man that his co-workers call "Superman." Of course, the irony here is that Fred MacMurray would be the model that the creator of Captain Marvel took for his inspiration. But, getting back to the movie, this is quite a brisk and fun comedy, with enough sex appeal and quick dialogue to keep the viewer entertained and alert! While no classic, it's still a lot of fun with Fred and Claudette bickering and waiting until the last frame to kiss and make up. And, in the end, someone, who wants to visit them, asks "Can I come tomorrow night?" Claudette responds, "No. Not tomorrow night." Get carried away with people who think they've "no time for love."

Physical comedy of the kind we call screwball is evident throughout NO TIME FOR LOVE where Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray play a couple from opposite social circles. She's a magazine photographer, he's a sandhog working in a tunnel beneath the Hudson River. She's attracted to him at first sight but doesn't seem to know it--and we know he's going to fall for her after a bunch of mishaps happen. The mishaps are piled one on top of another in typical screwball fashion with nobody making much sense. Certainly MacMurray's character is about as obnoxious and arrogant as any leading man Colbert was ever set up against, and she acts pretty irresponsibly in that tunnel where she gets up to her neck in trouble and mud--lots of mud. But somehow, it's all very watchable with a cast that knows exactly how to play this sort of thing. Claude Binyon had a way with writing slight romantic comedies and he gives Colbert and MacMurray some bright lines to work with. Others fortunate enough to get some good moments are Richard Haydn, Ilka Chase, June Havoc and Rod Cameron. If you look closely you can spot Tom Neal in the background as one of the sandhogs. It doesn't make a lot of sense when you stop to think about it, but it's fun while it lasts, thanks mainly to MacMurray and Colbert who can do this kind of romp effortlessly. Funniest bit: As MacMurray exits in final scene carrying Colbert like a caveman over his back, Richard Haydn says: "I'll drop by for supper tomorrow night." "Not tomorrow night," says Colbert. Wink. Wink.

When I read the summary of the featured review for this film by Fisher Forrest, it sure said it all--"Ridiculous and trite, but it is fun to watch". I couldn't have summed the film up any better. Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray starred in seven movies together and while they are all a lot of fun, this one is certainly pretty silly and trite. However, given the actors' ability to make even bilge watchable, this film turned out pretty good thanks to their professionalism and talent. With lesser talent in the film it might have struggled to even earn a 4 or 5--the plot idea is that silly and forgettable. Claudette plays a woman a lot like Clare Boothe Luce, though instead of writing articles for "Life" and "Vogue", Claudette is a high-powered photojournalist. Her boss doesn't particularly like her, so he assigns her to to a photo essay on 'sandhogs'--men who build tunnels. It's a dirty job but not wanting to be seen as too temperamental, she agrees to the assignment. Once there, the film starts to become a bit goofy. You see, when she sees the über-macho Fred without his shirt on and muscles bulging, she is smitten with a desire to go slumming! And her infatuation only gets worse when she seems him get into pointless fights that make absolutely no sense and are so very contrived. Although Colbert is prim and proper and would never admit that she likes to see Fred kick butt, it's obvious to everyone she is smitten. However, it takes another hour until the completely expected final clinch to occur. The biggest deficits in the film are the silly clichés and ridiculousness of the relationship between these people from two totally different worlds. I assume some studio exec must have noticed this, too, as towards the end you find out that Fred isn't really a sandhog but a talented engineer who happens to like working in the muck--making the pairing seem not quite so silly and vulgar (after all, he's a college graduate!). Fun despite the terrible dialog and plot. However, don't think too much when you watch this film, as it might make your head explode!!