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This Thing Called Love is hardly the only film to utilize enforced marital celibacy for comic effect -- but it does so in a particularly felicitous manner. Love falls a trifle short of being a really great film -- things get a little convoluted here and there, and the picture strains a little bit as a consequence -- but it still manages to be a very good and highly entertaining movie. When the screenplay is working, it really cooks, shooting out one-liners and keeping itself busy coming up with new little twists to forestall the inevitable coupling. Director Alexander Hall displays a sure hand, keeping things percolating merrily and clearly enjoying himself throughout. He is enormously helped by his sterling leads -- and by a supporting cast that's none too shabby, either. Rosalind Russell, almost always a treasure at this stage of her career, is in glorious form, making what is admittedly a silly premise seem perfectly logical; when Russell expounds her theory, it's only natural to assume that she should put it into practice and assume her husband will go along. She flies through the picture, being both comedian and straight woman with equal facility. Melvyn Douglas matches her point for point, which is crucial; a lesser performer could be knocked off the screen by Russell, and Douglas shows he's her match in every frame. Throw in some lovely work from Binnie Barnes, Lee J. Cobb, and Allyn Josland, and This Thing Called Love is an extremely agreeable way to pass a couple of hours.