I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

captain | american | french | love | germany | 

---

Taglines:

...and this is how SHERIDAN TOOK GRANT!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance | War

---

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

Ava Gardner was briefly considered for the part of Catherine.

---

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.

---

Quotes

Lt. Kitty Lawrence: He could leave marks on me anytime. I'd bring the stick!

---

Connections

Referenced in Mr. Mom (1983)

User Reviews

Grant and Sheridan Shine in Hawks Comedy

Although the film shows hundreds of American female military personnel stationed in Germany after World War II, apparently few were interested in the local men. According to Howard Hawks's "I Was a Male War Bride," only the male soldiers wed Europeans, and the military bureaucracy and red tape were stacked against American women marrying European men. With that premise, an American Lieutenant, Ann Sheridan, falls for Frenchman Cary Grant, and the couple resort to extraordinary ploys to both comply with and circumvent the rules to marry and bring Grant to the U.S. as Sheridan's "bride." Although Grant is about as French as Big Ben and looks as feminine in drag as Sylvester Stallone, Cary is Cary and brings charm and charisma to his improbable role of Captain Henri Rochard. Tough and sexy Sheridan is better cast, but the sum of the two stars exceeds either apart. Cary and Ann have chemistry and work well together in a plot that could have easily fallen apart with a less skilled team of actors and director.

Grant plays the patient and suffering spouse, who must endlessly explain that he is married to an American soldier and entitled to shelter and transportation in a system that does not recognize his gender as compatible with his situation. Throughout, Grant's face and body language speak volumes about the frustration of dealing with bureaucracy and filling in forms in triplicate. Although at times Sheridan seems oblivious to the depth of Grant's problems, her performance is fine, and she convincingly captures the transition from an initial loathing of to an eventual attraction to Rochard. Shot on location in post-war Germany, the black-and-white photography captures the beauty of the countryside and the devastation of the cities with documentary like precision. Hawks keeps the proceedings well paced, and, while rarely laugh-out-loud funny, "I Was a Male War Bride" and its megawatt stars provide excellent entertainment.