I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

20^th Century-Fox

Director: Howard Hawks

Starring: Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan

Love triumphs over everything, which may include military red tape. That is the premise of the 1949 Howard Hawks comedy I Was a Male War Bride starring Cary Grant. Inspired by a true story and screw-balled up to translate into an appealing Hollywood comedy, the feature would be be so profitable that it topped 20^th Century-Fox’s box office numbers for the year and was one of Howard Hawk’s most successful films. Its most memorable comedic moments provided by this well received picture would come from Cary Grant in drag as his character in desperation must risk humiliation with a poor disguise in order to get through a troubled situation to be with the one he loves.

I Was a Male War Bride is a comedy about a post WWII newlywed French Army captain’s attempts to accompany his wife, a American lieutenant, back to the States by maneuvering through the problematic red tape. In post war occupied Germany French Army officer Henri Rochard (Cary Grant) is assigned a task to infiltrate the area’s black market. Due to circumstance Henri is paired with American lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan) as his driver, initially instigating sexist friction between the two, but through whacky misadventures together ultimately ends in romance and the two marrying through quick circumstances. The humor builds as Army regulations keep the two from spending the night together and the sudden orders that Catherine is to immediately return back to the US. To assure Henri’s ability to accompany Catherine home they must evoke the military’s War Bride Act, which causes confusion among authorities due to Henri evoking the benefits of being the “bride” in this situation. Catherine goes as far as dressing Henri up as a woman to circumvent the muddled use of wars by the Bride Act, providing one of the film’s most humorous scenarios that only works for a short time. Of course all ends well as the two set sail for American and spend their first night together in its brig.

The film is a return to the Howard Hawks-Cary Grant team up comedies of pre World War II. In the vein of Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1941) Cary Grant is the befuddled straight man to whom all ridiculous action seems to fall upon, becoming the lovable butt of the jokes throughout the picture. Hawks, a master of the cinematic medium, finds the proper moments of comedic timing in staging and action delivering a picture that entertainingly fresh using his old means storytelling along the way.

However, the film does feel a bit disjointed at times, almost as if constructed into two distinct parts. The first half of the film surrounds the McGuffin as Henri must complete a mission, ultimately leading to his romance with Catherine. The second half is the meat of the story and really all that is truly memorable of the film being in the mission to get Henri to accompany Catherine back to the States. These two halves have a bit of a different tone and overall execution going from a screwball post-war comedy to a funny romance. Despite the same characters, setting, and filmmaker there is just something off as if the film takes an act break and the plot’s purpose changing is jarring, if only momentarily. Overall the picture remains entertaining as episodic tales of romance between two different people and the world in which it was discovered.

The source of the motion picture’s story derives originally from the biography Henri Rochard, a real life a Belgium who married an American nurse, recounting his adventures to accompany his wife to the States. For the sake of interest Hawks made the Henri character French, despite Cary Grant being British, and an officer, pretty much utilizing the military red tape as the premise for comedy scenarios to play against. For audiences and critics this return to the comedy for Hawks brought back the memories previous Cary Grant screwball comedies they concocted nearly a decade prior.

What looked to be a formula for success, the production was stricken with its fair share of unforeseen issues. With much of the picture actually filmed in Europe, much to the delight of cast and crew alike, the colder weather would cause health issues for the film’s stars, instigating multiple delays that nearly derailed the production. Ann Sheridan devolved pneumonia, suspending production for two weeks for her recovery. Grant contracted hepatitis complicated with jaundice greatly losing 30 lbs. during his illness. Filming was shut down for over three months to allow Grant to recover and gain back his weight so that it would not clash with his other filmed scenes. Hawks would not be immune to his own health issues as he developed hives over his body during shooting. All this trouble would cause the film to go greatly over budget and pushed back its release date, missing the opportunity to premiere in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall due to scheduling conflicts at the theater.

Even with all the health complications that befell the picture the stars shinned in this comedy. Cary Grant is embodiment of the comedic straight man that is the butt of the jokes. The later scenes that see him in a skirt and a poor wig would be the makes the whole film worth watching, providing the most memorable scenes in the picture. For Grant he found this picture to be one of his personal favorite works and was praised by critic and audiences alike for his performance. For the time Grant was at a peak in his career, being one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood accentuated by appearing in the studio’s biggest money maker of 1949.

Ann Sheridan proves to be a formidable foil to play against Grant’s acting. She is not the quirky female Aubrey Hepburn was in Bringing Up Baby, as Sheridan’s character is more straight laced, but equally as strong. Her character’s rivalry with Henri is a tad tame, allowing Grant to provide all the humor as the man bombarded by the ridiculous situations. This film provided Sheridan with a momentary success coming off severing ties with previous studio, Warner Bros., disliking the way they were utilizing her after she made a name for herself in the late 30s and early 40s. Despite being quite a busy actress over the decade Sheridan would attempt to make it as a freelance actress before finding work with other studios with lesser success.

As mentioned before, audiences loved the zany comedy starring Cary Grant directed by Howard Hawks, making I Was a Male War Bride the top grossing film for 20^th Century-Fox for the year and Hawks’ third greatest financial film in his career. Critics generally praised the film for the humor, the writing, and Grant’s acting, finding the film’s faults in its somewhat lengthy, meandering storyline. Its more sophisticated humor gave the picture its dignity over the more slapstick screwball comedies of the period. Despite the film being rather predicable, it proved that audiences enjoyed the part intellectual, part screwball nature of comedy Howard Hawks could provide. But like any smart filmmaker, Hawks would not dwell on the success of this formula as he continued his career in the other genres that made him one of the business’ finest filmmakers.