MartinHafer According to IMDB, "Confidentially Connie" lost a ton of money for MGM and I can understand why...the story was just plain strange. Not so much bad as weird and hard to imagine WHY they'd do a story like this! Apparently, some of the IMDB reviewers REALLY hated it. All I know is that it was a pleasant and weird time-passer.The film begins back East. Joe Bedloe (Van Johnson) is a professor at a small college where they seem to pay their faculty very, very little...so little that his wife Connie (Janet Leigh) has to make a lot of cutbacks. One cutback is meat...something they've learned to do without. But when Joe's dad, Opie (Louis Calhern) visits, he's shocked...and worried because Connie is pregnant and he KNOWS women need lots and lots of meat when they are pregnant! So, he conspires with Connie and the local butcher to provide meat at half price. But when the other professors families learn that the Bedloes are getting a great deal on meat, Opie is forced to pay for EVERYONE'S discount meat...otherwise Joe will find out about his father's interfering. To me, however, I just thought Joe was a jerk and should have been grateful for the help.Was there some sort of meat crisis of 1953?? I was very confused by the film and its notion that many folks couldn't afford meat back in the day. Regardless, the idea of Opie giving his daughter-in-law his meat is a strange notion in a film. Not bad...just odd overall...mostly because the cast did a nice job with the thin material they were given.

jhkp This is a cleverly written, enjoyable comedy that was topical in 1953, and still has some things to say about today's world. Topical in '53 because meat prices were high due to shortages. And the price of meat is, surprisingly, a major plot point of the story.Van Johnson is a young poetry instructor at a college in Maine. His wife, Janet Leigh (in the title role), is pregnant with their first child. They and the other newer members of the faculty are trying to make ends meet, because teachers don't make much money. Pregnant women (at least in 1953) are supposed to get their nutrition from a diet that includes a good amount of red meat. But the inability to pay for it means a lot of fish and other substitutes, instead. This causes Van to feel inadequate and Janet to question whether they're able to afford to raise a child. Coincidentally, Johnson happens to be the son of a Texas cattle rancher (Louis Calhern), and his father has always wanted him to give up what he considers a silly job and return to work the ranch. Janet, worried about their future, wonders if that may not be such a bad idea.Calhern decides to pay the kids a visit, and he drops in unexpectedly. Meanwhile, Van is in line for a promotion, but only if he can win over his petty, curmudgeonly boss (Gene Lockhart). The promotion is just what the little family needs to make raising a future child less of a financial hardship. But Van is constitutionally incapable of being an "apple polisher," and his prospects for the promotion diminish every time he socializes with his boss.Early on, we see a scene that demonstrates Van is a good teacher. It's clear he has a calling to the profession. So we want him to follow his heart. But when dad comes he makes a pretty good case for the ranch as a future prospect.The plot gets more complicated from here on, involving a butcher shop price war. But what's nice about the film is that people are more reasonable and thoughtful than they often are in films. This is a refreshing aspect to Confidentially Connie. Characters attempt to see one another's point of view. They attempt to be nice to one another. They're good people. There really is no villain. There are some wise observations about relationships (husband-wife, father-son, father-in-law- daughter-in-law), and some intelligent arguments made for the importance of teachers.This isn't a big, expensive film; most of it was filmed on the M-G-M back lot, in black and white, and it's less that 80 minutes long. But it's a solid, smart little comedy and I think you'll be diverted, entertained, and amused. No belly laughs, but a lot of chuckles and grins.The stars are appealing. Van Johnson proves once again that he was underrated as an actor, Janet Leigh is as believable as ever, and both of them radiate charm. Louis Calhern has to stretch a bit to play a rancher, but stretch he does. His acting is big but doesn't go over the top, and he plays a very winning part. Walter Slezak (as a butcher involved in price wars) does a great job, and Gene Lockhart is perfect as Van's boss. In other parts, Marilyn Erskine and Hayden Roarke do good jobs.Direction is by comedy ace Eddie Buzzell.

Applause Meter This is a comedy that is hilariously nutso bad. Van Johnson is Joe Bedloe, a teacher in a small New England college. He's perfectly happy instilling a new generation of American students with an appreciation for the writing of William Shakespeare. His wife Connie, portrayed by Janet Leigh, is expecting their first child and they live in a cute little two-story house. But being a professional intellectual doesn't provide enough money to keep the family table filled with plates of meat. "Haven't seen a rib roast since 1948." The town butcher Emil Spangenberg, played by Walter Slezak, prescribes a dietary regimen for the mother-to-be: "Meat. So I'd have a strong, healthy baby." In this town of meat hungry carnivores, populated by meat junkies, the butcher's role is tantamount to the one provided today by dispensers of medical marijuana. De-toxing from the red meat craving by going cold turkey is to be avoided at all costs. That's where Joe's father Opie Bedloe comes into the picture. He's of all things a prosperous Texas cattle baron! When he comes to visit the couple he is horrified to learn that his son is such a poor family provider. It's not that this husband can't provide his wife with jewels and furs and lavish vacations. His beef is that Professor Joe can't shower the woman with…beef! Cultural satire when well done can be a great comedic look at society. When done in this movie it is a ham handed misfire, a plate of baloney adulterated by coy whimsy and artificial ingredients. I give this a 2 in recognition of what I interpret as scriptwriter's Max Shulman's mockery of the American mindset of entitlement to all the consumer bounties of life. Hip, hip, hooray! It's the American Way!

neil-124 This picture had some great stuff going for it, based on a story by Max Shulman and Herman Wouk and a screenplay by Shulman and a load of great character actors as backup. Sadly it fails because of bad casting. This is a vehicle that was made for wisecracking actors like Jack Carson and Eve Arden. With the Shulman one liners coming a mile a minute Van Johnson and Janet Leigh just seem to dodge out of the way rather than play into the witty remarks. The lazy direction by Edward Buzzell doesn't help either. And it's not like there's anything the matter with the performances, just the use of the wrong talent on material better suited to actors with a Powell/Loy characterization. Come to think of it, this was in 53 and Powell and Loy were still under contract to MGM. That might have been a fitting farewell to the Nick and Nora team.