The More the Merrier
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Movie Reviews of The More the Merrier
Movie Review: A rollicking good time!
Summary: 4 Stars
At the height of World War II there was an acute housing shortage in our nation's capital. Being the patriotic sort Constance Milligan (Jean Arthur) decided to do what thousands of other Washingtonians did during those hectic years.....sublet her apartment. She put a small ad in the local newspaper and dozens of folks showed up on her doorstep to inquire. Now Benjamin Dingle (Charles Coburn) was a retired millionaire who was in town to advise government officials on how to ease the housing crunch and paradoxically found himself without a place to stay. Mr. Dingle also saw Constance Milligan's ad in the paper and through a combination of deception, persistence and persusion was able to finagle his way into sharing this apartment against the better judgement of his landlady. Constance's instincts were dead on. Dingle would prove to be a meddling old busybody and a constant thorn in her side. George Stevens' 1943 madcap comedy "The More The Merrier" tells the hilarious story just what happened over the next few days. And in the end Constance Milligan would get more than she bargained for....much more!
Benjamin Dingle had barely settled into his half of the apartment when he started asking Constance some pretty personal questions. She had just recorded the following entry into her diary: "Wednesday... just rented half of apartment to funny old man named Dingle. At least someone around to break the silence." It seems as though Dingle had sized up his new roommate pretty quickly and fairly accurately. He wondered why Constance was not married and opined that she should hook up with "a high type, clean-cut young fellow". Then Dingle asked her if she kept a diary. She answered with an emphatic "No!". To which Mr. DIngle replied "There are two kinds of people Miss Milligan. Those who don't do what they want to do so they write down in a diary about what they haven't done and those who are too busy to write about it because they are out doing it." Ouch! The plot thickens the next day when one of those them there "high type, clean cut young fellows" shows up looking for a place to stay. Dingle takes matters into his own hands and sublets his half of the apartment to a soldier named Sergeant Joe Carter (Joel McCrea) who is in town for just a few days before shipping out to an overseas assignment. And as you might expect all hell breaks loose when Constance learns of this arrangement. After she catches Dingle reading her diary she tosses him out on his ear but winds up agreeing to let Joe Carter stay for just a few more days. It turns out Benjamin Dingle was right. Sparks fly and Joe and Connie fall in love.
"The More The Merrier" turns out to be yet another extremely entertaining film from Hollywood's Golden Age. Once again, Jean Arthur turns in a stellar performance. I could not take me eyes off her. She really is the classic "girl next door" and I have become a huge fan over the past few years. I now own most of the films she appeared in. Charles Coburn is delightful as Dingle and Joel McCrea does a workmanlike job in the role of Joe Carter. If you love films from this era you will certainly enjoy "The More The Merrier". Highly recommended!
Movie Review: Clever George
Summary: 4 Stars
George Stevens began his career working for Hal Roach where he learned about comedy. In the Thirties he made a number of delightful movies including the best of the Astaire/Rogers films SWING TIME and the delightful ALICE ADAMS. THE MORE THE MERRIER was the last film he made before going to film the last period of the Second World War where he filmed the opening of some of the concentration camps which understandably affected him deeply.It is also the last comedy he made and the films he made later all suffer from the need to be 'significant'.Although SHANE is one of the great westerns, GIANT is a bore as are DIARY OF ANNE FRANK and THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. Pity, as he had a light touch with comedy which is very rare. THE MORE THE MERRIER shows how to take a specific social phenomenon (the housing shortage in Washington DC during World War 2) and make it into classic romantic comedy complete with guardian angel played with great relish by Charles Coburn. Jean Arthur was getting a little bit old for this sort of thing but she is as delightful as ever and Joel McCrea is also fine.Movie Review: Amazing classic war-time comedy....medicore transfer
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the brightest and most popular WWII comedies, "The More The Merrier" is finally on DVD with what appears to be the typical medicore quality from Columbia. Like "The Awful Truth", the quality is medicore...lines, blotches, pops, and plenty of dirt. This one's also a bit blurry at times.
Transfer aside, this George Stevens production has one of the best performances from Jean Arthur, not mention Joel McCrea's typically dead-pan but brightly amusing performance. Supporting them is the great character actor, Charles Coburn, who stole the movie with his amazing comedic performance...and he bagged the Best Supporting Oscar for his performance.
I couldn't be happier to finally get this on DVD...but Columbia has no idea how to mine their vaults.
Movie Review: Oddly Romantic
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of my favorite movies. Jean Arthur shows off her impeccable comic timing and manages to keep up the charm. I am a huge Joel McCrea fan so in my book he can do no wrong; here's one film where others might actually agree with me.
The film has some moments where you just have to laugh at the characters in a good-natured manner. One scene at a nightclub shows several women responding to McCrea's obvious charms -- you just have to snicker. Arthur and McCrea seem like such an unlikely couple that when overtures are finally made you find yourself being sweetly seduced along with Jean.
One sour note, however. The movie is set during WWII and more than once uses a derogatory term for the enemy.
Movie Review: Jean arthur is just so good in this!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the second movie I've seem about the housing shortage in Washington, D.C.
during the war. They probably should have had the Army put up tents in the suburbs?
They called the best and brightest for the war effort to D.C.
and then treated them all like bums when they got there!
The romantic comedy of 1940's US manners here is classic.
Today all the people would have been in sleeping bags
and tents in backyards and vacant lots?
I liked the movie because it reminded me of my Mom and my aunts.