G.I. War Brides (1946) User Reviews

A great lady finds a great love where she least expected it.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 17 November 2016]

Sort of a woman's view of the same theme of "The Best Years of Our Lives", this post-war film title gives the indication of being an exploitation drama of what some women did to get their hand on allotment checks. The gentle Anna Lee is in a predicament, trying to get to America to help an American veteran and falling in love with somebody else along the way. She's fallen in love with sergeant James Ellison who thinks she's in love with officer William Henry, and lets her escape without revealing how he feels. It's a bit complicated and often far fetched but Anna Lee is so lovely that its easy to forget the complexities. She never achieved top stardom in spite of being in many grade A films, but "General Hospital" fans still remember her fondly as the saintly Lila Quartermain, the heart and soul of "Port Charles" for 25 years.

Things could not ever be the same

[dexter-10 · 4/10 · 1 November 2001]

There are two major cultural ideas that come from this post-World War Two film: one, that pre-war ideas would still prevail after the war;and, two, that many marriages during the war were mistakes. One the first point, pre-war ideas did not simply return for America after the war was a modern industrial society which had cast off its Great Depression woes. On the second point, documents indicate that the divorce rate after the war was the highest in United States history, thereby indicating that many marriages were indeed ill advised. In effect, both points emphasize the in 1946 it was becoming obvious that things were not and that things could not ever be the same.

Love and war

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 15 August 2022]

This title from Republic Pictures would make an interesting double feature with Paramount's HOLD BACK THE DAWN (1941). It is sort of a female version of the earlier film. In this immigration love story, we have a British woman (Anna Lee) who gains entrance into the United States illegally, in the hopes of marrying an American.

Miss Lee is supposed to marry a soldier she became engaged to back in her native England. She doesn't have passage across the Atlantic, so she stows away on an ocean liner. Then she assumes the identity of a war bride (Carol Savage) who has gotten cold feet and hopped off the boat.

As far as these things go, it's a rather clever premise for a film. There are scenes with our heroine incognito pretending to be a woman she's not. She is trying to fool a reporter (Robert Armstrong) as well as the other wives on board.

This is followed by her eventual arrival in New York City and a cross-country train trip to Los Angeles to meet her "husband." Of course, she needs to break the news gently to the waiting bridegroom (James Ellison) that his actual wife has dumped him. As soon as she's taken care of this matter, she intends to locate her fiance (Bill Henry) and tie the knot. But there's a hitch: her guy has also gotten cold feet!

We now have two jilted souls, who are both free to fall in love and get married to each other. The sequence where they become better acquainted is nicely done. An unexpected courtship includes time along the beach, lunch in Chinatown, and a visit to Grauman's theater where Miss Lee amusingly places her hands over Greer Garson's cemented hand prints.

At one point Ellison takes her home to meet his family. He's from a clan that includes a wise old grandpa (Harry Davenport). Since there are no rooms at a nearby hotel, she is allowed to spend the night. But this causes a slight complication, since they cannot really share the same bed together if they are not actually married. Ellison's teenage sister (Helen Gerald) is suspicious about what's really going on.

Meanwhile, the reporter from the ship has been following the "newlywed" couple around. There will be trouble with the immigration office.

This is a romance drama designed to have a pleasant ending, so we know that it will all be resolved satisfactorily. Lee's character will not be sent back to Europe. G. I. WAR BRIDES is a very engaging film with sincere performances. It gives us a look into the particular realities of Anglo-American marriages and how the war changed the course of many lives...some for the better.