In 1938 Howard Hawks directed Bringing Up the Baby, film which is often considered one of the greatest screwball comedies of Classic Hollywood. One of its more memorable scenes involved Cary Grant changing future meaning of word “gay” by briefly appearing in women’s clothes. More than a decade later Grant, again directed by Howard Hawks, again made brief but memorable appearance in female clothes in 1949 comedy I Was a Male War Bride.
The plot is based on true events that involved Belgian oceanographer Roger Charlier while serving as military officer in Allied-occupied Germany after Second World War. He has described them in an eponymous newspaper article written under pen name “Henri Rochard”. This is the name taken by Charlier’s alter ego and film’s protagonist, Captain Henri Rochard, French Army officer serving as liaison to US Army. The plot begins in Heidelberg where Rochard meets an old acquaintance, US Army Lieutenant Catherine Gates (played by Ann Sheridan), part of Women’s Army Corps. Two of them are given joint mission of locating and recruiting talented lens maker named Schindler (played by Martin Miller) who is said to live in small remote town. Due to logistical issues and strict Army regulations, Rochard ends in sidecar of motorcycle being driven by Gates and what was to be simple task gets complicated with both of them experiencing all kinds of adventures. Despite initial hostility, Rochard and Gates soon discover irresistible attraction to each other and, following the successful completion of task, decide to marry. However, Rochard is just about to end his military service while Gates’ unit get relocated back to the States. US immigration rules are such that the newlyweds might remain separated. The only possible loophole is a law that allows US military servicemen to bring their new spouses from Europe, written in a way that doesn’t specify whether “war bride” is a male or female.
Basic premise behind I Was a Male War Bride looks very much like those used in Hollywood “high concept” comedies made decades earlier. Thankfully, Howard Hawks was apparently aware of how thin it might be and instead used it almost like an afterthought in the final segments of the film. Script by experienced writers Charles Lederer, Leonard Spiegelglass and Hagar Wild instead pay much more attention to developing relationship between Rochard and Gates during their grand adventure through post-WW2 German countryside. There is much more emphasis on screwball themes of battle of the sexes, some slapstick and dry humorous observations by both characters, although it seems that scriptwriters took too much effort in making Rochard and Gates hostile towards each other only to suddenly fall in love.
I Was a Male War Bride was partly shot at locations in occupied Germany and partly in London’s Shepperton studios. Production was plagued by serious health problems of Hawks, Grant and Sheridan, which postponed shooting and inflated the budget. Despite those obstacles, cast did good job. The audience might have problems accepting Grant (who speaks with his native British accent) as Frenchman, while other characters speak German or with heavy German accent. Despite that, Grant delivers good performance and later went on record praising I Was a Male War Bride as one of his favourite films. Same can be said of Ann Sheridan who has good chemistry with Grant. The film didn’t create much enthusiasm among critics, but the audience liked it very much, turning it into one of the biggest box office hits of Hawks’ career. Some of today’s viewers, especially those of the more “wokeish” persuasion, might find some of the gender stereotypes used in the final scenes unacceptable, but majority would probably enjoy this film as a good piece of Classic Hollywood comedy.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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