I Was a Male War Bride
by Howard Hawks
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ann Sheridan, Bill Neff, Cary Grant, Marion Marshall, Randy StuartDirector: Howard Hawks
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of I Was a Male War Bride
Movie Review: Grant can't Cary it All
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm always game for a Cary Grant movie. I've found that he is very good at comedy, romance, and, somewhat, drama. This movie is definitely in the comedy class and Grant does well enough but the movie suffers from two insurmountable shortcomings; a bad script and a bad straight man (in this case, in keeping with the role reversal theme, a straight woman). A lot of people don't appreciate the value of a good straight man but most comics in a situational humor setting can't really succeed without one. Ann Sheridan may be the B Movie answer to Rita Hayworth but she seems to have no sense of how to deliver her lines in "I was a Male War Bride". What makes things worse is the punch lines and supposedly comical situations aren't much to begin with. For example, the movie adds a few unneccesary moments to try and work in a version of the old Wet Paint gag. It came across as a speed bump in an already slow-moving film.
I will acknowledge that things pick up towards the end of the movie when we get a good set of sequences on military red tape and its' inability to deal with anything unexpected. However, by the time that began to emerge, I was already wondering why this movie was taking so long to end. I see lots of great reviews on this film so maybe your sense of humor jump starts a lot quicker than mine. However, there are a lot of great comedies out there just waiting to be seen and all I got out of "I was a Male War Bride" was more waiting.
Summary of I Was a Male War Bride
This laugh-a-minute farce takes place in Occupied Germany, in the years following World War II. French officer Henri Rochard (Cary Grant) gets assigned to pair up with Lt. Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan) to track down black marketers; they're already well acquainted and can't stand each other's presence. Eventually their antagonism turns to love, however, and they marry. Problem number two: navigating through U.S. Army red tape, which necessitates that Rochard be classified as a war bride and cross-dress to gain entry into the States. Grant makes an even less convincing woman than he does a Frenchman. The alternate title of this movie was You Can't Sleep Here, a phrase Grant hears over and over as he sleeps in all manner of horribly awkward and uncomfortable circumstances. Sheridan is utterly charming, and the many gags are a reminder of Grant's gifts for physical comedy. The film harks back to the screwball comedies of the '30s, only with a somewhat more leisurely pace. Sample lines, with Grant being handed a soggy infant: "Oh, how cute! What is it?" "It's a human fire extinguisher. Want to hold it?" "What's its name?" "Niagara!" --Jerry RenshawStationed to work side-by-side on a mission in post war Germany, French army officer Henry Rochard (Grant) and American WAC Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan) fall in love. But just when they decide to marry, Catherine is ordered back to the US - alone! The only way for an alien, including her husband, to enter the US with her, is through the congressional act governing war brides. So?the resourceful Catherine does the obvious ---disguises her husband as a sister WAC in this hilarious classic that the whole family will enjoy.
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