You Can't Sleep Here (1949)
"I Was a Male War Bride" (original title)

Captain Henri Rochard is a French officer assigned to work with Lieut. Catherine Gates. Through a wacky series of misadventures, they fall in love and marry. When the war ends, Capt. ... See full summary »

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Charles Lederer (screenplay), Leonard Spigelgass (screenplay),

Stars:

Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan, Marion Marshall

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

Captain Henri Rochard is a French officer assigned to work with Lieut. Catherine Gates. Through a wacky series of misadventures, they fall in love and marry. When the war ends, Capt. Rochard tries to return to America with the other female war brides. Zany gender-confusing antics follow.

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Plot Keywords:

captain | american | french | love | germany | 

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Taglines:

...and this is how SHERIDAN TOOK GRANT!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

19 August 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' I Was a Male War Bride

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Howard Hawks' first film to be shot in Europe, it was beset with problems. The German winter was unbearably cold and most of the cast and crew fell ill. Ann Sheridan caught pleurisy (which developed into pneumonia), Cary Grant contracted hepatitis with jaundice, and Hawks broke out in hives.

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Goofs

When Lt. Gates and Capt. Rochard come up to the dam, Rochard is rowing. He jumps to the front of the boat to look over the edge. When he does so, he drops the starboard oar into the water. The next scene shows him looking over the edge and when the camera cuts back to the aerial view, you can see both oars are shipped and dry on the boat as he begins to row again.

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Quotes

Capt. Henri Rochard: Well, on the contrary, the process of turning a man into a woman is enormously complicated, but I'll do my best.

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Connections

Featured in Rock Hudson's Home Movies (1992)

User Reviews

Pleasant comedy of Cary Grant as an army wife

I saw this movie years and years ago and always remembered the line, "Be quiet or people will think we smuggled in a cow." I was excited to see it on TCM. Alas, while it's good, it's not as hysterically funny as I thought it was going to be. Cary Grant plays a Frenchman with an English accent who winds up married to an American officer, played by Ann Sheridan. I loved their banter, especially in the beginning. Their wedding night is interrupted when she gets orders to ship out, and the problem becomes how to get her new husband home with her to America when all the spousal regulations seem to be for brides.

For me, the funniest scene took place while Grant is waiting for the bus with all the brides. Over a loudspeaker, a female officer informs the women about the new styles in the states and the way hair is worn. Grant's face is priceless while she's talking.

The movie is cute and notable for Grant dressing like a woman and looking very homely. Ann Sheridan is very good. The film is a little slow, but if you love Cary Grant, you should enjoy it.