We're Not Married! (1952)

In separate stories, five wedded couples learn that they are not legally married.

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), Dwight Taylor (adaptation)

Stars:

Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Victor Moore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ginger Rogers	...	Ramona Gladwyn
Fred Allen	...	Steven S. 'Steve' Gladwyn
Victor Moore	...	Justice of the Peace Melvin Bush
Marilyn Monroe	...	Annabel Jones Norris
David Wayne	...	Jeff Norris
Eve Arden	...	Katie Woodruff
Paul Douglas	...	Hector C. Woodruff
Eddie Bracken	...	Wilson Boswell 'Willie' Fisher
Mitzi Gaynor	...	Patricia 'Patsy' Reynolds Fisher
Louis Calhern	...	Frederick C. 'Freddie' Melrose
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Eve Melrose (as ZsaZsa Gabor)
James Gleason	...	Duffy
Paul Stewart	...	Attorney Stone
Jane Darwell	...	Mrs. Bush

Storyline

A Justice of the Peace performed weddings a few days before his license was valid. A few years later five couples learn they have never been legally married. Annabel Norris, already Mrs. Mississippi and ready to enter the Mrs. America contest, is now free to enter the Miss Mississippi contest.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | soldier | wedding | marriage | episodic structure | 

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Taglines:

What embarrassment when we discover... [We're Not Married]

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The archive background footage showing New York City's Broadway at night is vintage May-June 1935, judging from the film titles prominently displayed on various theatre marquees.

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Goofs

It's supposed to be June of 1951, but the wall calendar at the doctor's office in Port City has 31 days and begins on a Thursday. The only month in 1951 that fits those criteria is March.

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Quotes

Ramona Gladwyn: Say one thing about our marriage. If there's such a thing as an un-jackpot, I've hit it!

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth 2 (2014)

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Soundtracks

The First Noel
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung during the opening scene

User Reviews

Big Radios, Beauty Pageants, and a War in Korea

It's a clever premise, but the results have dated rather badly. Unfortunately, the comedy level never reaches the sparkle it needs, though the opening vignette (Rogers and Allen) comes close. Perhaps that's not surprising given Director Goulding's credits, which suggest he's more at home with Bette Davis melodrama than with material of this sort. Also, I'm surprised a big-budget studio like Fox didn't film this in Technicolor, which would have added a lot to the atmospherics. Instead, we get dour gray tones that undercut the light-hearted mood, making the movie look older than it is. But then, 1952 was a year Hollywood was looking to retool in the face of TV's onslaught. The following year would see an explosion of wide- screen color beyond the reach of the livingroom tube. As a result, this comedy venture may have been caught in the transition.

To me, the Allen-Rogers sequence is the best. It's actually a rather scathing look at entertainment make-believe and the relentless assault of commercial advertising. In private life the two are barely speaking, while on radio they play a pair of happy marrieds who trade comic barbs in between pushing the sponsors' goofy products. It's rather deftly and bitingly done, even though the 57-year old Allen looks like he's been on a two-week bender. In passing—note that even though we see a number of living rooms, no TV's are in sight, only radios! This was Hollywood in its final stage of denial.

The other vignettes are mildly entertaining, with a look at a number of performers on the way up the ladder-- Monroe, Marvin, Wayne, Gaynor. Especially satisfying is the delicious opportunity the letter provides Calhern to turn the tables on the gold-digging Gabor and her grasping attorney. At least the screenplay had the good sense not to reconcile these two at the end. But notice how the script insists the others be reconciled in typical 50's happy ending style. This certainly rings hollow in the case of the feuding Allen-Rogers. Given a second chance, it's hard to see how they could possibly stay together. In the case of Douglas-Arden, the most incisive of the vignettes, they may be totally bored with one another (check the dinner scene), but are too complaisant to actually change. That strikes me as maybe not the funniest, but at least as the most realistic of the episodes.

Anyway, whatever the comedy lacks in sparkle, it is revealing of its time—radio, beauty pageants, war in Korea (implied in Bracken's troop ship). But I'm afraid that the clever premise plays better than the mild results.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1952 (France)

Also Known As:

We're Not Married!

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1