I Was a Male War Bride

Last updated
I Was a Male War Bride
IWasAMaleWarBride.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Howard Hawks
Screenplay by Charles Lederer
Leonard Spigelgass
Hagar Wilde
Based on"Male War Bride Trial to Army"
Baltimore Sun 1947
by Henri Rochard [1]
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Starring Cary Grant
Ann Sheridan
Marion Marshall
Cinematography Osmond Borradaile
Norbert Brodine
Edited by James B. Clark
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • August 26, 1949 (1949-08-26)
Running time
105 minutes
Language English
Box office$4.1 million (US/ Canada rentals) [2] [3]

I Was a Male War Bride is a 1949 screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan.

Contents

The film was based on "Male War Bride Trial to Army", a biography of Henri Rochard (pen name of Roger Charlier), a Belgian who married an American nurse. [4]

The film is about French Army officer Henri Rochard (Grant) who must pass as a war bride in order to go back to the United States with Women's Army Corps officer Catherine Gates (Sheridan).

Plot

In Heidelberg in post-World War II Allied-occupied Germany, French Army Captain Henri Rochard is given the task of recruiting a highly skilled lens maker named Schindler. He is assigned American Lieutenant Catherine Gates as his driver, much to their mutual discomfort (arising from several prior clashes). The only available transportation is a motorcycle which, due to Army regulations, only Catherine is allowed to drive; Henri has to ride in the sidecar. After several mishaps, the constantly quarreling couple arrive at their destination, Bad Nauheim.

At the hotel, bothered by back pain, Catherine warily accepts Henri's offer of a back rub. When she falls asleep, he tries to leave her room, but the exterior door handle falls off, trapping him inside. He spends an uncomfortable night in a chair. In the morning, she refuses to believe his story. Unknown to him, the innkeeper's wife has replaced the exterior knob, so when he tells Catherine to see for herself how the door will not open, it does. Eventually, the innkeeper's wife comes to the room, forcing Henri to hide on the ledge outside the window. The innkeeper's wife explains everything to Catherine, but not before Henri falls off the ledge.

Later, Henri goes undercover to search for Schindler, now working in the black market. He refuses to let Catherine help him and tells her that if she sees him to pretend she does not know him. The black market is raided by the authorities, and he is rounded up with everyone else. When he asks her to vouch for his identity, she obeys his earlier order not to reveal that she knows him. While he is in jail, she finds Schindler, who is happy to leave Germany and ply his trade in France. Later, she apologizes to a furious Henri, and by the time they return to Heidelberg, they have fallen in love.

Red tape requires Henri and Catherine to be married first in a civil ceremony before they can each have their own choices for the ceremony: an Army chaplain (Catherine) and a French church (Henri). Before they can consummate their marriage in a Paris hotel, Catherine is ordered to report immediately to headquarters in the morning, as her unit is about to be shipped back to the United States. They subsequently learn that the only way Henri can get a visa is under the War Brides Act as the "spouse" of an American soldier. After many misunderstandings, caused by the unusual nature of his situation, he is given permission to accompany her, but circumstances and Army regulations conspire to keep them from spending the night together.

When they try to board the transport ship, Navy sailors do not accept that Henri is a war "bride". Catherine persuades him to dress as a female Army nurse to get aboard. The deception works, but once underway, their ruse is discovered and he is arrested. Catherine goes to the ship's captain who understands the legalities of their situation, and they finally have some privacy — in the ship's brig.

Cast

Production

Cary Grant as a cross-dressing Capt. Henri Rochard, and Ann Sheridan as Lt. Catherine Gates. I was a Male War Bride 2.jpg
Cary Grant as a cross-dressing Capt. Henri Rochard, and Ann Sheridan as Lt. Catherine Gates.

Filming began on September 28, 1948 and lasted more than eight months due to a variety of illnesses contracted by cast members and crew. Sheridan contracted pleurisy that developed into pneumonia, suspending shooting for two weeks. Hawks broke out in unexplained hives all over his body. Grant came down with hepatitis complicated by jaundice, and production was shut down for three months, until Grant recovered and regained around 30 pounds. When screenwriter Charles Lederer was ill, his friend Orson Welles wrote part of a short chase scene as a favor to him. [6] : 404  The delay in production pushed the budget over $2 million.

Filming took place primarily in Heidelberg, Germany, London at Shepperton Studios, and Los Angeles at the 20th Century Fox studios. King Donovan, Charles B. Fitzsimons, Robert Stevenson, and Otto Waldis all shot scenes for this film, but all of them were ultimately deleted.

Reception

In Brazil, the movie was released as A Noiva era Ele Werner Haberkorn - Cine Bink - Campinas.jpg
In Brazil, the movie was released as A Noiva era Ele

The film played Grauman's Chinese Theatre for two weeks starting August 19, 1949. [7] Its New York premiere was on August 26, 1949, at the Roxy Theatre. [8] The opening was originally scheduled for Radio City Music Hall, but filming delays placed the opening in conflict with the Music Hall's schedule.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote a generally positive review, finding that a "tediously long time" was spent setting up the plot but that the film's best scenes were "convulsingly zany stuff". [9] Variety was also mostly positive, calling the film "a smash combo of saucy humor and slapstick", though it thought that the story had "trouble finding a point at which to end." [10] Harrison's Reports called it "An hilariously funny sophisticated comedy ... The direction is bright and snappy, and both Grant and Sheridan do very good work, romping through the farcical situations in a highly amusing way." [11] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote that there were "a good many laughs" in the film, though he found too many of the comedic situations to consist of "the obvious worked to death". [12] Philip Hamburger of The New Yorker was negative, writing, "One cannot blame Miss Sheridan for the accumulated inanities to which she is subjected (the antics in this film are too childish to bear enumeration), but she does as little with them as humanly possible." [13]

The film holds a score of 79% on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 out of 14 surveyed critics giving it a positive review. [14]

The film grossed over $4.5 million, making it 20th's biggest earner of 1949. It was also Howard Hawks' 3rd highest grosser to that time, behind only Sergeant York (1941) and Red River (1948). [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Talk of the Town</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by George Stevens

The Talk of the Town is a 1942 American comedy-drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman, with a supporting cast featuring Edgar Buchanan and Glenda Farrell. The screenplay was written by Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman from a story by Sidney Harmon. The picture was released by Columbia Pictures. This was the second time that Grant and Arthur were paired in a film, after Only Angels Have Wings (1939).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Sheridan</span> American actress and singer (1915–1967)

Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, City for Conquest (1940) with Cagney and Elia Kazan, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Marshall</span> American actress (1929–2018)

Marion Marshall was an American actress.

<i>Sylvia Scarlett</i> 1935 film by George Cukor

Sylvia Scarlett is a 1935 American romantic comedy film starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, based on The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett, a 1918 novel by Compton MacKenzie. Directed by George Cukor, it was notorious as one of the most famous unsuccessful movies of the 1930s. Hepburn plays the title role of Sylvia Scarlett, a female con artist masquerading as a boy to escape the police. The success of the subterfuge is in large part due to the transformation of Hepburn by RKO makeup artist Mel Berns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Carson</span> Canadian-American actor (1910–1963)

John Elmer Carson, known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant. He appeared in such dramas as Mildred Pierce (1945), A Star is Born (1954), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He worked for RKO and MGM, but most of his notable work was for Warner Bros.

<i>This Is the Night</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

This Is the Night is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle, and starring Lili Damita, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young, Thelma Todd, and Cary Grant in his film debut. It was made by Paramount Pictures.

<i>She Wore a Yellow Ribbon</i> 1949 film

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with Fort Apache (1948) and Rio Grande (1950). With a budget of $1.6 million, the film was one of the most expensive Westerns made up to that time. It was a major hit for RKO. The film is named after "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", a song popular with the U.S. military.

<i>Fort Apache</i> (film) 1948 film by John Ford

Fort Apache is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "Cavalry Trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both also starring Wayne. The screenplay was inspired by James Warner Bellah's short story "Massacre" (1947). The historical sources for "Massacre" have been attributed both to George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn and to the Fetterman Fight.

<i>In Name Only</i> 1939 film by John Cromwell

In Name Only is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, and Kay Francis, directed by John Cromwell. It was based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer. The fictional town where it is set, Bridgefield, Connecticut, is based on the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut.

<i>Night and Day</i> (1946 film) 1946 film directed by Michael Curtiz

Night and Day is a 1946 American biographical and musical film starring Cary Grant, in a fictionalized account of the life of American composer and songwriter Cole Porter.

<i>Gunga Din</i> (film) 1939 film by George Stevens

Gunga Din is a 1939 American adventure film from RKO Radio Pictures directed by George Stevens and starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., loosely based on the 1890 poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling combined with elements of his 1888 short story collection Soldiers Three. The film is about three British sergeants and Gunga Din, their native bhisti, who fight the Thuggee, an Indian murder cult, in colonial British India.

<i>Quality Street</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by George Stevens

Quality Street is a 1937 American historical comedy film made by RKO Radio Pictures. It was directed by George Stevens and produced by Pandro S. Berman. Set in 19th-century England, the film stars Katharine Hepburn and Franchot Tone. Joan Fontaine makes one of her early (uncredited) film appearances. The screenplay was by Allan Scott, Mortimer Offner, and Jack Townley, based on the 1901 play Quality Street by J. M. Barrie.

<i>The Littlest Rebel</i> 1935 film

The Littlest Rebel is a 1935 American musical drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Edwin J. Burke was adapted from a play of the same name by Edward Peple.

<i>Bride for Sale</i> 1949 film by William D. Russell

Bride for Sale is a 1949 American romantic comedy film distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by William D. Russell, and starring Claudette Colbert, Robert Young and George Brent. The music score is by Frederick Hollander.

<i>What Price Glory</i> (1952 film) 1952 film

What Price Glory is a 1952 American Technicolor war film based on a 1924 play by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings, though it used virtually none of Anderson's dialogue. Originally intended as a musical, it was filmed as a straight comedy-drama, directed by John Ford and released by 20th Century Fox on August 22, 1952, in the U.S. The screenplay was written by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, and stars James Cagney and Dan Dailey as US Marines in World War I.

<i>June Bride</i> 1948 film by Bretaigne Windust

June Bride is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Bretaigne Windust. The screenplay, which was based on the unproduced play Feature for June by Eileen Tighe and Graeme Lorimer, was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Comedy. The film starred Bette Davis and Robert Montgomery. The Warner Bros. release marked the screen debut of Debbie Reynolds, although her appearance was uncredited.

<i>Ladies Should Listen</i> 1934 film by Frank Tuttle

Ladies Should Listen is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Cary Grant, Edward Everett Horton, Frances Drake and Nydia Westman.

<i>Silver River</i> (film) 1948 film by Raoul Walsh

Silver River is a 1948 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Thomas Mitchell. The film is based on a Stephen Longstreet story that was turned into a novel. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Charlier</span> Belgian oceanographer

Roger Henri Louise Lievin Constance Charlier was a Belgian resistance fighter, member of the prosecuting team at the Nuremberg trials, and oceanographer. His marriage to American Captain Marie Helen Glennon and administrative difficulties regarding his residency in the US was dramatised in the film I Was a Male War Bride, with Cary Grant as Charlier.

References

  1. ↑ "I Was a Male War Bride (1949) - Notes". TCM. 2010. Retrieved 2017-11-15. BROKEN LINK
  2. ↑ "All-Time Top Grossers", Variety, 8 January 1964 p 69
  3. ↑ "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59.
  4. ↑ "I Was a Male War Bride". Tcm.turner.com. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  5. ↑ Kovner, Guy (2013-03-26). "Robert Nichols". The Press Democrat . Archived from the original on 2013-03-31. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
  6. ↑ Welles, Orson, and Peter Bogdanovich, edited by Jonathan Rosenbaum, This is Orson Welles . New York: HarperCollins Publishers 1992 ISBN   0-06-016616-9.
  7. ↑ "1949". graumanschinese.org. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Business Brisk at N. Y. Runs; 'Jolson' Zooms to $81,000". Motion Picture Daily: 6. August 23, 1949.
  9. ↑ Crowther, Bsoley (August 27, 1949). "'I Was a Male War Bride,' With Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan, New Film at the Roxy". The New York Times : 7.
  10. ↑ "I Was a Male War Bride". Variety : 8. August 10, 1949.
  11. ↑ "'I Was a Male War Bride' with Ann Sheridan and Cary Grant". Harrison's Reports : 131. August 3, 1949.
  12. ↑ Coe, Richard L. (September 26, 1949). "Cary Carries On as a WAC". The Washington Post . p. B5.
  13. ↑ Hamburger, Philip (September 3, 1949). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker . p. 62.
  14. ↑ "I Was a Male War Bride". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  15. ↑ Eliot, Marc. Cary Grant: The Biography. New York: Harmony Books, 2004. ISBN   1-4000-5026-X.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.