Having known about this movie for almost 2 whole years, I was excited to finally find time to view it. After doing so, I wondered why I even bother watching musicals anymore. With a cast that includes Lucille Ball and Esther Williams, it seems inconceivable that this movie could be mediocre, so let's examine it and find what exactly makes it this way and what (if anything) it does properly. The film's plot is mostly dumb and makes it hard for you to suspend your disbelief. A man named J Allenbury is threatening to sue a newspaper company after they publish a story saying how his daughter Connie (Esther Williams) caused someone to get divorced. Connie's father wants to sue the company for a ridiculous 2 million dollars, and is confident he will succeed. An employee for the company, Curtis, gets a business manager named Warren (Keenan Wynn) to assist him in saving the company, but Warren has to delay his marriage to Gladys (Lucille Ball) in order to do so. Warren devises a plan to give Gladys the advantage in a lawsuit against Connie, which is bound to happen sometime in the future. He has a reporter named Bill Chandler marry Gladys (but not permanently). This way, Gladys can sue Connie after an incriminating picture of Bill and Connie together comes along. This will basically provide evidence that the story in the paper was not written with libel in mind. The problem is, in order to take this photograph, Bill has to get up close and personal with Connie, who is now in mexico on vacation. Acquiring the photo proves to be easier said than done, and Gladys starts to lose her patience. She begins to think Bill isn't even making an attempt to get the picture anymore, and is instead more focused on trying to become Connie's boyfriend. Eventually, Gladys travels to mexico herself in order to confront Connie's father and tell him she's Bill's wife. Bill tries to tell Connie that even though he likes her, he is already married, but they are wed soon after anyway. Gladys shows up in the same room as Bill and his new wife, telling him he's committing bigamy. However, Bill lets her know that Gladys' divorce from the husband she had before is not legal, and so her temporary marriage to Bill is not official either. The movie ends with Gladys telling Bill she received another divorce in Reno that is legal, and a mariachi band comes into the room for some reason. This movie gets on my nerves. Aside from the fact that the scene where Bill goes duck hunting was directed by Buster Keaton, there isn't that much to praise it for. Because this film is technically a remake of a 1930s movie, you would expect it to be similar to its predecessor, but it isn't. The 1936 film Libeled Lady is Easy to Wed's inspiration, and stars Jean Harlow, William Powell, Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy. That movie doesn't really have anything to do with this one since it's not a musical. In fact, the reason why I don't care for this movie is probably due to it being a musical. For whatever reason, everyone seems to hate them. The addition of Lucille Ball is a good thing, but not even she can save the rest of this movie. Overall, I felt Easy to Wed was a waste of time, but there is one last interesting thing about it. Even though I can't find him for the life of me, Fidel Castro apparently makes an appearance during the pool party scene in mexico. His character doesn't have a name and he's not listed in the cast, but he is supposedly there. It's not everyday when a future dictator shows up in an american film.
Review of Easy to Wed
