JOHN LOVES MARY is a pleasant little comedy that happens to be Patricia Neal's first film. While it is far from perfect, there is enough charm to it that it makes for a better than average time-passer and one of Ronald Reagan's better films.
Reagan is coming home from serving in Europe in the army. He was there two years during the war and they kept him an additional two years after since he apparently had some important skills they needed as they rebuild Europe (perhaps he needed to teach a new batch of German actors how to be B-movie leading men). During this time, his girlfriend (Neal) was waiting eagerly for his return. While they didn't say it in so many words, there seemed to be a current of sexual frustration implied concerning this. However, Ronald can't just marry her when he returns because he's already married. Now it isn't because he didn't love Patricia--he married an English lady to get her into the country quickly so she could marry Ronald's buddy (played by Jack Carson). It seems that during the war Carson had planned on marrying the lady but thought she was dead. So, when Reagan later found her, he married her in order to avoid the two year wait for immigrants to the US. His plan is to bring her here and then take her to Reno for a "quickie" divorce (six weeks). Then she can marry Carson and he can FINALLY marry Neal. The problem is that because Carson thought she was dead, he married another lady and they are expecting a baby! So, Reagan is stuck with a wife who now may not want a divorce and oddly he never considered telling Neal and her family the truth. Had he done that, the rest of the film would never have been necessary. Instead, in the tradition of "screwball" comedies, he tells one lie after another after another--all leading up to a dandy conclusion.
The film is fun and worth watching, but if you have a comedy that is hinged on a plot point that makes no sense, it sure makes it hard to love and recommend the film. Any sane man would have explained it--especially since Reagan took the extreme step of marrying the lady because he owed Carson so much (Carson had saved his life during the war). In addition, since the married was never consummated, getting an annulment should have been quite simple! Plus, don't you think Reagan would have sent a telegram to Carson to ask him if he should marry the lady--Carson would have told him not to and the film would have ended after 15 minutes?! I'm sure that most in the audience when they saw the film must have thought the same things! However, because the film had an excellent cast (with Edward Arnold and Wayne Morris for support), they still managed to produce a watchable little comedy. So if you can just turn your brain off about the silliness of the plot, then by all means give it a look.
Reagan is coming home from serving in Europe in the army. He was there two years during the war and they kept him an additional two years after since he apparently had some important skills they needed as they rebuild Europe (perhaps he needed to teach a new batch of German actors how to be B-movie leading men). During this time, his girlfriend (Neal) was waiting eagerly for his return. While they didn't say it in so many words, there seemed to be a current of sexual frustration implied concerning this. However, Ronald can't just marry her when he returns because he's already married. Now it isn't because he didn't love Patricia--he married an English lady to get her into the country quickly so she could marry Ronald's buddy (played by Jack Carson). It seems that during the war Carson had planned on marrying the lady but thought she was dead. So, when Reagan later found her, he married her in order to avoid the two year wait for immigrants to the US. His plan is to bring her here and then take her to Reno for a "quickie" divorce (six weeks). Then she can marry Carson and he can FINALLY marry Neal. The problem is that because Carson thought she was dead, he married another lady and they are expecting a baby! So, Reagan is stuck with a wife who now may not want a divorce and oddly he never considered telling Neal and her family the truth. Had he done that, the rest of the film would never have been necessary. Instead, in the tradition of "screwball" comedies, he tells one lie after another after another--all leading up to a dandy conclusion.
The film is fun and worth watching, but if you have a comedy that is hinged on a plot point that makes no sense, it sure makes it hard to love and recommend the film. Any sane man would have explained it--especially since Reagan took the extreme step of marrying the lady because he owed Carson so much (Carson had saved his life during the war). In addition, since the married was never consummated, getting an annulment should have been quite simple! Plus, don't you think Reagan would have sent a telegram to Carson to ask him if he should marry the lady--Carson would have told him not to and the film would have ended after 15 minutes?! I'm sure that most in the audience when they saw the film must have thought the same things! However, because the film had an excellent cast (with Edward Arnold and Wayne Morris for support), they still managed to produce a watchable little comedy. So if you can just turn your brain off about the silliness of the plot, then by all means give it a look.