I was a Male War Bride

I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE (1949) - Nov. 17, 2006
A mostly entertaining though somewhat disappointing film starring Cary Grant about a couple of Army officers, one American and one French, who go on a mission and fall in love in the process. They decide to get married, but the only way they can move to America together is if Grant registers as a war bride. Wackiness sort of ensues, but not as much as you'd think. For one thing, all the war bride stuff doesn't even happen until the last twenty minutes or so, and Grant isn't forced to pretend he's a woman until the last five. It's almost like two movies in one: there's the first hour or so, in which the bickering couple slowly fall in love and finally decide to get married. This is the point where the usual romantic comedy would end. Then there's all the stuff with the couple trying to figure out how they can be together, and trying to get their paperwork in order (much of this section deals with the couple trying to overcome bureaucratic hurdles; it's not as wacky as it sounds). The whole thing felt overlong at an hour and forty minutes, particularly the latter half (one example of this is the sequence in which Grant tries to find a place to sleep in an army base, getting rejected everywhere he goes. It's almost ten minutes long and probably didn't need to be longer than two). It's not all bad, though. Cary Grant isn't capable of not being charming or giving a bad performance, so he was obviously quite good. Ann Sheridan was good as well. The film had quite a few funny moments, and was generally entertaining. It's just, all things considered, I was expecting more. **1/2