I Was a Male War Bride

Germany after the war. Henri Rochard is an officer in the French army and has to work with Lieutenant Catherine Gates of the American army on an assignment. The two cannot bear each other from the start. They travel by motorcycle, by train and on foot, arguing the whole way, and in the end they marry. The real problem starts after that: Catherine will return to America and Henri wants to go too. American law regulates the entry of spouses, but the law was written for a bride. On paper, Henri has to be a war bride. Howard Hawks directs. Cary Grant plays Henri and Ann Sheridan plays Catherine. The starting point is a real account; what happened to a man named Henri Rochard had been put into a book. The humour is built on bureaucracy; in every scene a form, a signature or a rule stops the character. In the last section Grant appears in women's clothes, a choice that caused argument in the comedies of the period. Hawks's method is fast talk and overlapping lines, and this film is one of the known examples of that manner. Shooting began in Germany and was long interrupted when the actors fell ill; the production took far longer than planned. The relationship the narrative builds is equal; because of her rank, Catherine is the one with authority in most scenes. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood comedy and Cary Grant. Who it is not for: some of the humour has dated, there are repetitions, and the last section runs long.