I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan, Marion Marshall, William Neff, Randy Stuart, Eugene Gericke, Martin Miller.

Hawks’ post-war comedy of errors matches up French captain Grant (not attempting a French accent) with Sheridan’s WAC officer for a series of mishaps, and when they eventually (inevitably) fall in love and get married, the gender roles are reversed for their exodus to America via the War Brides Act. The first half hums along like an It Happened One Night-esque road-trip rom-com, but the second side is weighed down by a repetitious quagmire of red tape and misunderstandings; there are a number of scattered laughs in this section (seeing Cary in drag with a “horse tail wig” is certainly amusing), but it goes on too long, and Hawks’ timing and structure are too slack. Sheridan is also shuffled off to the sidelines for the later action after previously standing her ground so winningly when they were still hate-liking each other. Not a classic for the filmmaker or either of the stars, but a solid spot of entertainment on average that’s more than worthwhile for fans of any/all three. Orson Welles made a small, uncredited contribution to the script, which was loosely based on the biography of Roger Charlier, a Belgian prosecutor during the Nuremberg Trials who married an American nurse.

71/100