Nov. 26, 2004 - 2:03 pm
honestly, i can't remember why i wanted to watch this one. i think maybe Netflix had it set up as a recommendation for me and i thought it looked good. it was pretty good. quite funny at parts, but perhaps not as "screwball" of a screwball comedy as what i've come to expect from Howard Hawks and Cary Grant. actually, it looks like the only one of their films that i haven't seen is Only Angels Have Wings (1939).
i've heard that I Was a Male War Bride is somewhat based on a true story...but of course spiced up a little bit. a Frenchman and an American female officer go on a short assignment in Germany and fight the entire time. on the way back they decide that they want to get married. the problem is that the lady (Ann Sheridan) is leaving to go back to the U.S. on assigment and he can't seem to find a way to go with her. luckily there's an allowance for war brides to return to the U.S. with their new husbands. since the sex of a "bride" is not specified in the law, Cary Grant ends up getting packed in with a lot of women and shipped over. he sure has to do some convincing of the armed forces to make them believe that his passage as a "bride" is ok though.
i think Jill and i enjoyed the movie fairly well but it wasn't astounding. the scene where Ann Sheridan cuts the tail off of a horse and begins using it as a wig for her husband is pretty comical. then how the service men can't stand to look at Cary Grant as a woman is pretty hilarious. the chemistry between the two leads is also pretty good. so a good film, and it doesn't drag on too long which is nice as well. i'd call it a "light" comedy.