I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

In post-war Germany, a WAC (Ann Sheridan) and a French Captain (Cary Grant) fight like cats and dogs, quickly marry, and then face endless red tape when he tries to immigrate to the US with his new bride.Wow, did I hate this movie. It wasn't funny, it was horribly miscast, and it felt like it would never end. Grant inexplicably plays a Frenchman, even though he uses his trademark Cary Grant accent. Since he sounds American, the whole premise doesn't work. His dialogue is inane and I'm sure he was embarrassed to make this movie. Sheridan is as sexy and alluring as Ma Kettle and talks to Cary like his football coach; there's no love or chemistry and they make an off-putting couple. Katharine Hepburn would have been better for this part with perhaps Charles Boyer in Grant's role...someone, anyone, who could convince us he's French.The endless paperwork required by the Army for an alien husband to enter the U.S. with a WAC sounds believable and this was based on a true story, but the whole thing is tedious, boring, and disappointing.

I Was a Male War Bride (1949)Howard Hawks directing Cary Grant in a farce of a post-war comedy. It's hilarious at times, and always engaging as you'd expect. But then, you might also expect something even further over the top, which might have made this a classic rather than just a really funny fun film.A reminder--this is the pairing that gave us "Bringing Up Baby" and "His Girl Friday," two of the funniest movies ever. Even "Monkey Business," three years later, had more zaniness to it, though clearly in third place among the four. "I Was a Male War Bride" is the up side to the film noir version of the American soldier in the late 1940s, and it plays into a lot of jokes that were probably hilarious at the time--like the absurd acronyms the military used and uses--but in 2011 it's the larger romance and brief cross-dressing that are the hooks.If the other three Hawks-Grant comedies have the likes of Katherine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe to give them longevity (and writers like Ben Hecht chipping in on that score), this one has the lesser known Ann Sheridan. As friendly, likable and every-day as she is meant to be (a little like Ginger Rogers in "Monkey Business"), she never quite lights up the screen. Or more importantly, lights up Cary Grant. Don't worry, there are really funny parts--the motorcycle scenes in general, including on the boat--so watch this, definitely. Grant might not be his quirky or even romantic best, but he's still Cary Grant. And the writing is fun, the pace always fast. And then, when you're done, you'll want to remember the others in this group. And to round it out, you might discover the fifth collaboration--not a comedy--the moving and very well made "Only Angels Have Wings." Great stuff all around.

Amusing, if not hilarious post-war "screwball" comedy reuniting Howard Hawks and Cary Grant in a farce which suffers from over-stretching its thin premise over the length of a whole movie.It starts with a great sight gag as Grant gets confused by a succession of acronym signs in a military building, but while there are a few more laughs and grins down the line, it never really crackles to life and stay in the memory like "Bringing Up Baby" or "His Girl Friday".The two leads, Grant and Sheridan are pleasant enough and have a decent rapport, but it doesn't help that the great man doesn't even deign to speak a word of his French character's language at any point, far less adopt a French accent. He of course looks as handsome as ever, although giving truth to the old maxim about the handsome brother having an ugly sister (which usually works both ways!), when we see him "dragged up" at the end. Sheridan is natural and feisty, although she gets less to do than obvious leading man Grant.Unusually for Hawks, the direction lacks pace and for every amusing scene or turn of phrase, there are about two that don't work and thus hold back the comedy. As you'd expect from the title, there's a fair bit of pre-Python nudge-nudge, wink-wink innuendo, put across in knowing style by all, but the same "battle of the sexes" motif palls a little as the film wears on. Of some historic interest, however, is the opportunity the film confers in allowing us to to see our frustrated couple motorbiking their way round actual battle-scarred locations in Europe.There are some decent laughs here but they're hardly thick and fast and certainly the movie lacks the razor-sharp banter of the two wonderful predecessors noted above. Other directors than Hawks would serve Cary better in post-war Hollywood, notably Hitchcock, but this amusing romp is still worth watching to see the master at work, albeit in cruise control only.

Although the film shows hundreds of American female military personnel stationed in Germany after World War II, apparently few were interested in the local men. According to Howard Hawks's "I Was a Male War Bride," only the male soldiers wed Europeans, and the military bureaucracy and red tape were stacked against American women marrying European men. With that premise, an American Lieutenant, Ann Sheridan, falls for Frenchman Cary Grant, and the couple resort to extraordinary ploys to both comply with and circumvent the rules to marry and bring Grant to the U.S. as Sheridan's "bride." Although Grant is about as French as Big Ben and looks as feminine in drag as Sylvester Stallone, Cary is Cary and brings charm and charisma to his improbable role of Captain Henri Rochard. Tough and sexy Sheridan is better cast, but the sum of the two stars exceeds either apart. Cary and Ann have chemistry and work well together in a plot that could have easily fallen apart with a less skilled team of actors and director.Grant plays the patient and suffering spouse, who must endlessly explain that he is married to an American soldier and entitled to shelter and transportation in a system that does not recognize his gender as compatible with his situation. Throughout, Grant's face and body language speak volumes about the frustration of dealing with bureaucracy and filling in forms in triplicate. Although at times Sheridan seems oblivious to the depth of Grant's problems, her performance is fine, and she convincingly captures the transition from an initial loathing of to an eventual attraction to Rochard. Shot on location in post-war Germany, the black-and-white photography captures the beauty of the countryside and the devastation of the cities with documentary like precision. Hawks keeps the proceedings well paced, and, while rarely laugh-out-loud funny, "I Was a Male War Bride" and its megawatt stars provide excellent entertainment.