I found this one on the "Movies!" channel, released in 1951, in glorious black and white, but set in immediate post-WW2 1946. This is primarily a romantic comedy with 1950s sensibilities.
June Haver is Connie Scott, her husband has been gone for 2 1/2 years, fighting in WW2. Her husband is William Lundigan as Jim Scott. He has been sending money home as he is able, she has been saving it, so they could start their "love nest" when the war ended.
Jim comes home a few days early to surprise Connie, but the surprise is on him. She used the money as a down payment to buy a multi-floor house in the city, they would live in one section and rent out the other units. The income from the rentals would pay for their mortgage, and Jim could settle in to his writing career.
The problem turns out the building was not in very good shape, inspectors required the electrical wiring to be redone, the building shook every time the fire truck passed in the street, and the tenants had ongoing plumbing problems that needed to be addressed. Plus, it turns out the "good deal" Connie got was about $5000 more than it was worth, and that was a big sum in 1946.
A colorful side story is added by Frank Fay as Charley Patterson, one of the new tenants. Charlie is quite the charmer, but as his whole story unfolds he is wanted by the FBI as a bigamist who cheats gullible old widows out of their money.
In a minor, but important, supporting role just a few years before her big movies, Marilyn Monroe is Bobbie Stevens, a WAC that fought with Jim overseas. She returns to the city and needs a place to rent. Her being a tenant creates some jealousy, but also offers a romantic interest for Jack Paar as Ed Forbes, a friend of Jim's.
Overall a very pleasant, enjoyable movie.
SPOILERS: The law finally catches up with Charlie right after he marries one of the nice ladies who also is a tenant. But Charlie says he is reformed, he is now a one-woman man, and serves 18 months in jail, but also collaborates with Jim as the author, they write a best-selling book of Charlie's adventures, splitting the profits, which gives Jim and Connie the cash to make their place into the love nest they wanted.
June Haver is Connie Scott, her husband has been gone for 2 1/2 years, fighting in WW2. Her husband is William Lundigan as Jim Scott. He has been sending money home as he is able, she has been saving it, so they could start their "love nest" when the war ended.
Jim comes home a few days early to surprise Connie, but the surprise is on him. She used the money as a down payment to buy a multi-floor house in the city, they would live in one section and rent out the other units. The income from the rentals would pay for their mortgage, and Jim could settle in to his writing career.
The problem turns out the building was not in very good shape, inspectors required the electrical wiring to be redone, the building shook every time the fire truck passed in the street, and the tenants had ongoing plumbing problems that needed to be addressed. Plus, it turns out the "good deal" Connie got was about $5000 more than it was worth, and that was a big sum in 1946.
A colorful side story is added by Frank Fay as Charley Patterson, one of the new tenants. Charlie is quite the charmer, but as his whole story unfolds he is wanted by the FBI as a bigamist who cheats gullible old widows out of their money.
In a minor, but important, supporting role just a few years before her big movies, Marilyn Monroe is Bobbie Stevens, a WAC that fought with Jim overseas. She returns to the city and needs a place to rent. Her being a tenant creates some jealousy, but also offers a romantic interest for Jack Paar as Ed Forbes, a friend of Jim's.
Overall a very pleasant, enjoyable movie.
SPOILERS: The law finally catches up with Charlie right after he marries one of the nice ladies who also is a tenant. But Charlie says he is reformed, he is now a one-woman man, and serves 18 months in jail, but also collaborates with Jim as the author, they write a best-selling book of Charlie's adventures, splitting the profits, which gives Jim and Connie the cash to make their place into the love nest they wanted.