I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Charles Lederer (screenplay) &
Leonard Spigelgass (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 August 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

WAIT TILL YOU SEE FLORENCE! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

Captain Henri Rochard is a French officer assigned to work with Lieut. Catherine Gates. Through a wacky series of misadventures...

Plot Keywords:

Army | American | French | Germany | Railroad Crossing

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Capt. Henri Rochard
Ann Sheridan	...	Lt. Catherine Gates
Marion Marshall	...	Lt. Kitty Lawrence
Randy Stuart	...	Lt. Eloise Billings
Bill Neff	...	Capt. Jack Ramsey (as William Neff)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
King Donovan	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)
Charles B. Fitzsimons	...	Lieutenant Kelly (scenes deleted)
Robert Stevenson	...	Lieutenant (scenes deleted)
Otto Waldis	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' I Was a Male War Bride (USA) (complete title)
I Was a Male War Bride (Australia)
You Can't Sleep Here (UK)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate # 13534) | UK:U | France:U | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

'Edward Platt (I)''s film debut.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: With Catherine gone briefly, Henri is waiting and sleeping in the sidecar when some children put the motorcycle in gear. With no driver the motorcycle increases in speed and shifts gears.

Quotes:

Lt. Catherine Gates: [Rochard is holding a baby for a stranger. His wife and Kitty walk up, both laughing] Ah, Henri, you look so maternal!
Lt. Kitty Lawrence: What is that?
Capt. Henri Rochard: A human fire extinguisher. You wanna try it?
Lt. Kitty Lawrence: Oh, come on.
[takes baby andfrowns at its prodigious wetness]
Lt. Catherine Gates: Aww, he's cute. What's his name?
Capt. Henri Rochard: Niagara.
Lt. Kitty Lawrence: [shaking hand dry] Henri, what a thing to do.
Lt. Catherine Gates: Where's the mother?
Capt. Henri Rochard: She went to get *more* water.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Naked Monster (2005)

Sometimes It's Hard To Be A Woman

Howard Hawks proves once again why he is considered to be the director's director. The story is fairly simplistic, but with the help of brilliant actors and ingenious dialogue he turned it into a masterpiece and a classic. And it's a damn funny movie, too.

I expected an explanation how the limey Grant got to join the French army, until the credits rolled and forced me to realise that he was meant to be genuine, native French. The good thing here is that Grant never in the least tries to act French, which is probably a good idea as it would have proved to be annoying in the long run. He merely wears a képi.

The chemistry between Ann Sheridan and Cary Grant is amazing, and Ann is so damn sexy. I particularly enjoyed her role as a strong yet sensuous woman, who, in contrast with many other female roles of the time, comes across as plenty fresh and modern.

The movie is a light-hearted comedy for the first half, and then suddenly turns into an almost Kafkaian nightmare for the rest. Grant really shows us his thespic stuff when he's battling being turned into a woman for bureaucratic reasons.

I'm giving this only nine points because I want to leave me some room for improvement. But it's a brilliant and very enjoyable movie, which is sadly underrated.