This is such a weird little film in the middle of science fiction and monster mashes from Ishiro Honda, and it really just seems to have come together because Toho wanted to use Honda's bankable name on the project. It seems like a cheap little romance, something they could throw together pretty quickly, film on a handful of sets (with a couple of scenes on a boat at sea), and push out the door. It's machine, studio filmmaking at its core, and the result is a small delight of a romantic comedy. Written by Zenzô Matsuyama who wrote Honda's earlier Be Happy, These Two Lovers as well as Masaki Kobayashi's epic The Human Condition, Come Marry Me is a trifle with a bit on its mind. But only a bit.
Tamotsu (Yuzo Kayama) and his sister Yoko (Yoko Naito) are trying to get a train to Osaka, but their car is acting up. To help Tomatsu push comes a random girl, Masako (Keiko Sawai), who gets them rolling and leaves an impression on Tamotsu's mind. They meet later that day when he shows up at the hotel where she works for a birthday party, Yoko teasing him for the obvious attraction he feels towards this hotel girl without being able to act upon it. Later that night, Masako meets her friend's older brother, Michio (Toshio Kurosawa), with a medicinal present for his brother that he wants her to give to him, him being a taxi driver and unable to make it all the way out there on his own time.
This sets up the core trio of the love triangle to form. Tamotsu, current head designer of the family yacht manufacturer, grows affectionate for Masako even though he's terrified of actually approaching her. Masako and Michio keep meeting up to hand over gifts for Michio's brother, developing a quiet affection there. Yoko schemes to get Masako with Tamotsu, even going so far as to hire Michio's cab to get him out of the way for a day (which doesn't work to some entertainingly modest result).
There is a surprising little thematic push through it all that's kind of interesting, shares some parallels with what happened in Be Happy, These Two Lovers, and honestly feels underserved on a narrative level, coming together more awkwardly and inelegantly than I would have expected. It centers around Masako's opinion of rich people, carrying a class-consciousness attitude around how little she earns and can purchase on her salary. This gets thrown up against this nice richer guy (he just designs the boats, he doesn't order them, he insists) who showers her with gifts. This contrast is nicely handled, but the resolution feels off.
Essentially, she has the excuse of not wanting to become a boring woman who does nothing except being a rich man's wife. Except, he loves her because of that moment when she helped pushed the car, her being active. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wants a placid woman who stays at home. He'd embrace her being active in some way, like getting a job at the shipbuilding firm. Also, the romance side with Masako and Michio feels a bit underserved in the actual writing. The biggest bit in the film up to the ending is Michio amusingly getting Yoko to her destination in record time, but that is more about Michio's feelings for Masako, not the other way around.
Essentially, I was really on board with the romance, the light tone, and the whole affair, even the themes manifesting in different ways like Masako's friends at the hotel going on strike when Tamotsu's parents get her fired, much to the chagrin of their boss (Ichiro Arishima). It's just when the writing has to get us to the point where Masako chooses against her own interests a guy she hadn't really exhibited much affection for (to be fair, this is Japan, actually showing affection isn't a huge thing). So, I can buy it, but I just don't entirely feel like it's effectively done.
The film was apparently written around the central song sung by Kayama, a Hawaiian-like tune about love that's quite an easy listen. The two stars were apparently big in Japan at the time, Yoko, in particular, having been launched to stardom in Kurosawa's Red Beard. Combine that with Honda's bankable name, and this feels like a quick effort to make some easy money on Toho's part. That it's a lightly entertaining film on its own is just icing, I suppose. I do wish the finale played out a bit cleaner, though.
