"Lovey Howell" (Natalie Schafer) tries to steal the opening scenes, but no-one could steal the show away from the beautiful Lana Turner. Turner is "Theo", the bride, who tries to keep her mother from butting in. James Craig is "Miles", the close friend, but she will marry "Tom West", a good soldier from Boston (John Hodiak). This was a WW II film, so of course, the issues of war, and getting married before one goes off to war were in everyone's mind. This was an earlier credited role for most of the cast, but it all comes off quite well. Not much of a deep story, but it's well done. Turner really lit up any scene, once they put a light on her. ( If you haven't seen Postman Always Rings Twice, it's her shining role!) The ups and downs of married life. It's a bit of war time propaganda... Lana always seems to be thinking out loud, voicing all her thoughts all the time, whether she's with her friends or her husband, almost in a child-like fashion. At one point, Theo looks at a sign that says "DO NOT ENTER".. and enters anyway, destroying army equipment. Seems pretty unrealistic. How entitled of her! About half way through, the plot goes off in other directions, and it gets more serious. It's almost two hours, but they could have done all this in shorter time. It's pretty good. I'm sure it carried more weight with folks who really were going through all these same issues during wartime. Directed by Robert Leonard, who had started EARLY in the silents.

There's so much wrong with this movie, yet it managed to hold my attention till the end (albeit barely). To begin with, the plot here is thin. In fact, this is not a movie about plot. This movie is, quite simply, the story of a marriage, with all its highs and its lows, and in this film the lows of the marriage are the result of wife Lana Turner, who doesn't quite take marriage seriously. Perhaps it's because her mother didn't take marriage seriously, and that's what she learned marriage was like.Another problem with this film is that it is just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Is spouses talking too much grounds for divorce? It should be!The most interesting scene in the film is the uncomfortable dinner. I'll not give it away, but it's a gem, though it could have been done even better.The acting here is mixed. Lana Turner is ravishing, living up to my expectation that in that era she was one of the two most beautiful women in the world (along with Sophia Loren). And, although in later on-camera interviews I found she was hardly a 100 watt bulb, she was a darned good actress...and is here. I recently discovered John Hodiak. He's a good actor, but I think (as was later proved) that he was better as a supporting actor than in carrying and entire film. Too bad his life was cut so short.In terms of supporting roles here, James Craig is good as the also-ran lover...watch...I should say listen to his performance...was his voice an intentional imitation of Clark Gable's? I can't quite decide about the performance of Frances Gifford. More interesting was her own life -- check it out on Wikipedia.I always thought Hugh Marlowe was a likable supporting actor, but clearly not destined for the big time (and he ended up in t.v. soaps). It's interesting to see Natalie Schafer ("the millionaire, and his wife"), here just as dumb acting as she was on Gilligan's Island...was it really acting? Herbert Rudley was also destined for television, and his performance here shows why. Keenan Wynn's role is not worth mentioning (and that particular skit is the dumbest 5 minutes of the movie). Not sweet or touching. Just dumb.Robert Z. Leonard was the director here, and it's hard to believe that the man who directed a masterpiece like "The Great Ziegfeld" could hobble together a film this poor. Ah well, maybe the stretch from silent films to 1944 was just too long. If you want a reason to watch this film, Lana Tuner's beauty will do it. But don't expect a great deal beyond that.

Lana Turner was a true movie star, and she again proves it in this vehicle, "Marriage is a Private Affair," from 1944, which stars Lana with John Hodiak and James Craig. The Taylors, the Gables et al. were off fighting the war.Turner plays a young woman, Theo, extremely popular with the men, who marries a soldier (Hodiak) whom she barely knows, Lieutenant Tom West. Nevertheless, they are happy at first, and have a son. But Tom's work keeps him busy for hours on end, and Theo starts to miss all the attention she once had. She also misses being perceived as a young beauty; now she's a married woman with a child. Because Theo comes from a family where her mother (Natalie Schaefer) was much married and divorced, Theo begins to worry that she's not cut out for marriage, especially when an old beau (Braig) puts the moves on her, and she's tempted."Marriage is a Private Affair" is overly long, and the script isn't much, but it was no doubt relevant in wartime when women married men in haste who then went overseas.This film is really all Lana, absolutely gorgeous, with her beautiful face, figure, and soft speaking voice, a vivacious, flirtatious, and sexy woman who still had elements of a young girl. She really had something special. Later in her life, the energy drained from her, and the scandals, the smoking, drinking, and sun damage all took effect, even if she remained beautiful. But the effervescence was gone.Back in the late '30s and into the '40s, Lana's star presence could - and did - elevate the most tedious of films. Later on, with the big sunglasses, fur coat and head covered with a scarf, she did, too, but for different reasons. This film is pleasant enough - without her, it wouldn't be worth watching. I highly recommend it if you're not familiar with the young Lana.

this is truly a collectors item. turner is at her most beautiful, all baby doll pout and velvet sincerity. production values are high. its a cult film that merits rediscovery. a big hit in 1944, it grossed 2 million at the box office, in the days when a hit was really a hit. audiences loved lana in her dimpled heyday and this film screens like a valentine to her sensuality. don't miss it. they don't make stars like lana anymore. gore vidal is on record as saying that he saw this film while young and that it had an impact on him. he mentioned it years later in myra breckinridge. tennesse williams worked on an early draft of the screenplay, and privately referred to it as a celluloid brassiere for miss turner!