Main Cast: Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalban, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Phyllis Kirk
Release Year: 1950
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
Plot
Two Weeks With Love is set in a Catskills resort in the early 1900s. Seventeen-year-old vacationer Patti Robinson (Jane Powell) feels that she's a bit too strait-laced to attract the male contingent, and dreams of being a "woman of the world." Naturally, the principal object of her affections, dashing Demi Armendez (Ricardo Montalban), prefers an old-fashioned girl, but Patti doesn't find that out until the last reel. The supporting cast is well served, especially Louis Calhern and Ann Harding as Patti's long-suffering parents and Phyllis Kirk as a bitchy coquette. Stealing the film from their "elders" are relative newcomers Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter, who get to perform the delightful "Abba-Dabba Honeymoon." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Two Weeks With Love is a feathery light musical of such little consequence that a strong wind could easily blow it away. While it has some surface similarities to the superior Meet Me in St. Louis (a family with four children, period setting, sense of nostalgia, etc.), Love doesn't reach the heights that St. Louis does -- nor does it even pretend to. It's content to be a modest, brightly colored little candy box that exists merely to provide momentary diversion. The score, gathered from hither and yon, lacks cohesiveness, but the individual songs are pleasant. The standout, of course, is "Abba Dabba Honeymoon," not because it is a spectacular song but because it is delivered so winningly by gangly Carleton Carpenter and an extremely winning Debbie Reynolds. Reynolds is so winning, in fact, that she practically steals the film right out from under the nose of Jane Powell. The young starlet captures the cockiness, determination, and naïveté of her character with a naturalness that is utterly charming. For her part, Powell is in very good form as well, bringing a sense of conviction to a part that requires her to have a crisis over whether or not she can wear a corset. The rest of the cast is fine, with Ann Harding rather more than that, and Roy Rowland has directed with a delicate but sure touch. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
