The Marrying Man

Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger reputedly fell in love on the set of this 1950s-set romcom. A Hollywood playboy is forced to marry a Vegas singer, after her mobster boyfriend catches them in bed., Story of a singer and a millionaire (Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin) who marry and divorce…repeatedly. Lew: Robert Loggia. Adele: Elisabeth Shue. Bugsy Siegel: Armand Assante. Phil: Paul Reiser. Sammy: Fisher Stevens. Tony: Peter Dobson. Directed by Jerry Rees., Rich playboy Charley is engaged to Adele, the daughter of Hollywood executive Lew Horner. But at his bachelor party, Charley immediately falls for the bar’s singer, Vicki. Off to bed they go, but her boyfriend, mobster Bugsy Seigel, catches them in the act, and the adventures begin., Romantic comedy about a handsome playboy charmer who falls for a beautiful showgirl on the way to his own bachelor party – and begins a rollercoaster ride of a relationship that lasts through four marriages. The girl turns out to be the mistress of a notorious gangster – who exacts an unusual revenge on the hapless playboy., Neil Simon’s screenplay begins in 1956 in San Francisco, where singer Vicki Anderson (Kim Basinger) is performing at one of the city’s jazz clubs. Recognizing her voice from outside the club, a group of men go in to watch her perform; as they sit at their table, their de facto leader Phil (Paul Reiser) begins relating the tale of Vicki’s rocky romance with his friend Charley Pearl (Alec Baldwin). Flashing back to 1948, the film finds toothpaste-heir Charley on the brink of marriage with Adele (Elisabeth Shue), the daughter of Hollywood big-wig Lew Horner (Robert Loggia). Before the wedding, Phil and the gang take Charley to Las Vegas for one last romp as a bachelor; there he meets Vicki, the casino-singer girlfriend of mobster Bugsy Siegel (Armand Assante). Immediately taken, Charley sets his sights on Vicki in spite of his pals’ warnings; the couple goes back to her apartment to make love, but Bugsy has been tipped off and catches them in the act. As revenge, Siegel forces them to get married, and their picture makes all the papers. The marriage is quickly annulled, and even though Charley manages to patch things up with Adele and Lew, he sees Vicki again–and remarries her. After the death of his father, Charley takes over his toothpaste empire, and the couple moves to Boston; however, Vicki finds life there too smothering, and walks out. Years later, the couple meets again in Las Vegas and gives marriage a third try; at the expense of Charley’s fortune, Vicki resurrects her showbiz career, but her success triggers their third break-up. Finally, the film jumps back to 1956, where Phil and the others greet Charley as he enters the club, again with the intention of proposing marriage to Vicki. And again, she accepts., Love might be better the second, third or even fourth time around, at least according to this wacky comedy from Neil Simon. A handsome playboy who is engaged to the daughter of a movie mogul is forced at gunpoint to marry a mobster’s sultry singer girlfriend instead. Hilarity ensues as events propel the newlyweds back and forth between the altar and divorce court over the subsequent eight years. And the couple find that what started out as a case of mere lust may be love after all.