Easy to Wed (1946)

To prevent a libel case against the paper, a reporter tries to compromise the reputation of a tycoon's slandered daughter.

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Writers:

Dorothy Kingsley (adaptation), George Oppenheimer (screenplay),

Stars:

Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Van Johnson	...	William Stevens 'Bill' Chandler
Esther Williams	...	Connie Allenbury Chandler
Lucille Ball	...	Gladys Benton
Keenan Wynn	...	Warren Haggerty
Cecil Kellaway	...	J.B. Allenbury
Carlos Ramírez	...	Carlos Ramírez
Ben Blue	...	Spike Dolan
Ethel Smith	...	Ethel Smith - Organ Player
June Lockhart	...	Barbara 'Babs' Norvell
Grant Mitchell	...	Homer Henshaw
Josephine Whittell	...	Mrs. Burns Norvell
Paul Harvey	...	Curtis Farwood
Jonathan Hale	...	Hector Boswell
James Flavin	...	Joe
Celia Travers	...	Mary, Farwood's Secretary

Storyline

The "Morning Star" is in trouble: J.B. Allenbury, rich and mighty, will sue them for 2 million dollars for an article which says that his daughter is chasing after married men. Reporter Bill Chandler is sent after Connie to prove that the story is actually true. The only problem is that he's not married....yet.

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Plot Keywords:

love | remake

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Taglines:

It's a VAN! What a Man! Singing! Dancing! Romancing!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Casar é Fácil

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early in this film, on the lower Left of the screen, Fidel Castro, without beard, is seen as a poolside spectator with a drink in front of him. Young Fidel did "extra" work for MGM, while a student at UCLA, before becoming fully active in politics.

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Connections

Featured in Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Viva México"
Written by Pedro Galindo
Performed by a wandering trio
Sung by a chorus at the end

User Reviews

Nice little movie

This 1946 movie was a remake of Libeled Lady, from ten years earlier. Esther Williams (looking stunning) is Connie Allenbury, daughter of a successful tycoon, who wants to sue the newspaper that Warren Haggerty (Keenan Wynn) works for, when they print a libellous story about her lifestyle. The newspaper will go under if Connie wins her case, so they send Bill Chandler (Van Johnson) to try and seduce Connie, so that the story will then be true and she won't be able to sue them! Lucille Ball steals all of her scenes as Gladys, Warren's long-suffering fiancée, who gets entangled in the scheme.

In many ways, this was an enjoyable film – Lucille Ball, as mentioned above, was absolutely terrific, and was definitely the stand-out actor (her role was played by Carole Lombard in Libelled Lady and Ball's performance has been compared unfavourably with that of Lombard. I would like to see the earlier film to compare). Esther Williams was beautiful and great as the cool and shrewd Connie, and Keenan Wynn and Cecil Kellaway both gave good comic turns as Warren and J.B. Allenbury (Conie's father) respectively. The weak link in the cast unfortunately was Van Johnson. Chandler was supposed to be irresistible to women, with the ability to charm the proverbial birds out of the trees; I just didn't get that. He seemed to lack the charisma to play such a part.

However, the plot was amusing and clever (if slightly predictable, but that is probably to be expected when starting the movie) and some slightly ludicrous plot developments added to the laughs.

Overall, worth seeing for Ball's excellent role, and an enjoyable film, but ultimately forgettable.