Engaging comedy with Fred and Marlene well matched and looking glamorous and gorgeous. As was her usual state Marlene is gowned in one eye popping creation after another with some extraordinary hats. She's loaded with gossamer charm as an actress who longs for motherhood and is suddenly presented with answered prayers. Endearing in her befuddlement of the simplest basics of children, including finding out whether the baby she's taken under her wing is a boy or a girl!, she still comes across as a sincerely sweet and loving person. Fred is all gruff exterior at first but his innate joviality soon shows through. The picture takes an unnecessary detour into melodrama towards the end but snaps out of it for a proper ending. A cute and frothy film with Aline MacMahon contributing a fun performance as Marlene's right hand woman.

THE LADY IS WAITING (Columbia, 1942), under the direction of Mitchell Leisen, pairs Marlene Dietrich (on loan from Universal) and Fred MacMurray (from Paramount) for the only time. Nearly forgotten, and bearing no relation to the 1934 British-made movie of the same name starring Leslie Howard, the film itself offers the diverse Dietrich an opportunity to perform in light comedy far removed from the type of characters she's played during her early Paramount years (1930-1935), especially those under the stern direction of Josef Von Sternberg or those re-inventive offerings from Universal (1939-42) that all began with the classic western, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939). For MacMurray, it's another range for his talent playing a no-nonsense pediatrician who happens to detest babies, yet the same actor who made fathering his career in later years, especially the long running TV series, "My Three Sons" (1960-72).As the opening credits present itself through passages taken from a theater program guide, the story introduces Elizabeth "Liza" Madden (Marlene Dietrich), a celebrated New York entertainer leaving the stage door entrance and approached by awaiting fans wanting her autograph. Minutes later, she's seen returning to her luxurious East 85th Street apartment holding a baby (David James) she found abandoned in a 47th street rooming house, much to the astonishment of her personal secretary, Buddy (Aline MacMahon), and Kenneth Harling (Stanley Ridges), her business representative. Since the infant is dressed in pink, and taking it for granted to be a girl, she names her Joanna. Elizabeth learns different after notifying Doctor Corey T. McBain (Fred MacMurray), a baby doctor, who, following an examination, tells her it's a boy. Re-naming him Corey, Elizabeth goes through whatever channels she could to adopt the infant. While Mrs. Cummings (Elisabeth Risdon) of the child welfare department agrees on letting her keep the baby until she can further look into the matter regarding its parents, in the meantime, Liza must also prove herself solvent and married. Choosing McBain as her marriage of convenience husband, she readily relocates herself into a larger apartment so McBain, having given up his practice, could have enough room for his experiments studying the blood stream of rabbits for his cure for pneumonia, and Little Corey, called "Butch" by the McBain, to have his very own nursery. As these two strangers slowly grow fond of one another, situations occur as Liza encounters Frances (Arline Judge), McBain's fortune hunting ex-wife living in the same building, and the arrival of the baby's parents (Murray Alper and Kitty Kelly) and their lawyer (Charles Lane) who, seeing how the lady is willing, agree in letting Liza keep the child for $25,000.Although simply a movie more for amusement than logic, it's sometimes hard accepting the Dietrich character being so naive. It's a wonder she wasn't arrested for taking the infant without learning the circumstances of its abandonment. Possibly the screenplay should have gone through the cliché channels of having her suddenly acquiring the infant from a recently deceased relative or close friend of the theater. Either way would have proved more acceptable for the viewer. Though Dietrich had already played a mother earlier in BLONDE VENUS (Paramount, 1932), parenting was nothing new to her at this point. Her Elizabeth Madden, portrayed as a little eccentric and at one point advised to see a psychiatrist, may be a little out of her character range, though being a musical comedy star fits Dietrich to perfection. Similar circumstances for a woman like Dietrich being past 40 would have been better suited for an actress in the younger age range as Lana Turner or a Rita Hayworth. Dietrich's stubbornness and fiery temper, however, comes as a reminder of Mexican spitfire Lupe Velez. She gets some laughs in her favor as being one with a reputation for wearing screwy hats, though she's a fashion model here through her assortment of fur coats and jewelry. Taken from an original story by John Edward Grant, areas of THE LADY IS WILLING seems to have been inspired by the witty comedy of BACHELOR MOTHER (RKO Radio, 1939) starring Ginger Rogers as a department store worker who takes in a baby found on a doorstep. With BACHELOR MOTHER being straightforward comedy, THE LADY IS WILLING is a mild blend of comedy-drama. Though the comedy angle is much more preferable, the dramatic portion is fortunately handled well without becoming disastrous. Two staged interludes to a song, "I Find Love" (by Jack King and Gordon Clifford) sung by Dietrich, are showcased, with Roger Clark acting as her dancing partner. Others members of the cast include: Marietta Canty (Mary Lou, the maid); Ruth Ford (Myrtle Gusselman, a Swedish maid actually from the Bronx); Eddie Acuff (Officer Murphy); Harry Shannon (Detective Sergeant Barnes); and Harvey Stephens (Doctor Golding). Though some sources credit Sterling Holloway in the movie as Arthur Miggle, his scenes are not visible in the final print.Distributed to home video in 1994, THE LADY IS WILLING has turned up occasionally on TV Turner Classic Movies cable channel since August 9, 2008. Though an unlikely pair, the contrasting screen personalities of Dietrich and MacMurray do compliment each other, surely making this overlooked comedy, whenever shown on TV, a pleasing 90 minute experience for any classic movie lover. (***)

This is one of those escapist, nonsensical, utterly unrealistic and yes, downright silly movies from a time when the world was anxious. Europe was under Nazi occupation and the US was contemplating its own role in the conflict. Hollywood had become very good at giving Americans just this kind of comic relief. So why should anyone bother with it? Because despite all the silliness the four leads manage to pull it off with great aplomb. Marlene Dietrich is just as exotic and glamorous as she was in 'The Blue Angel' if not more so. She was forty and a show-stopper without compare. How could Fred MacMurray help himself but fall for her. His role here is an early version of his absent-minded professor. And the supporting leads, Aline MacMahon and Stanley Ridges, are equally good and fun to watch. So sit back and enjoy the show!

An amusing and fast-paced comedy about an actress (Marlene Dietrich) who finds an abandoned baby, brings it home, wants to adopt it but can't unless she gets married, then marries the pediatrician (Fred MacMurray) who she hired to check the baby out in what is at first a marriage of convenience. Later the pragmatist doctor and the impulsive actress will fall in love, and who better to play them than MacMurray and Dietrich? It all happens with great speed and dexterity, with some funny scenes with the police and a lady from child protective services and later a dishonest lawyer and a couple whom he persuades to declare that the baby is really theirs. In addition, MacMurray's true ambition is to do scientific research on rabbit reproduction, and Dietrich, as part of the deal sets up the adjacent apartment as his laboratory. Unfortunately, Dietrich's role gets to be bothersome and the film wanders off into melodramatic goo when the baby gets sick and needs an operation signaling a sad goodbye to what was a fairly sophisticated and promising comedy.