Film Review: I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

In 1938, Howard Hawks directed Bringing Up Baby, a film which is often considered one of the greatest screwball comedies of Classic Hollywood. One of its more memorable scenes involved Cary Grant changing the future meaning of the word “gay” by briefly appearing in women’s clothes. More than a decade later, Grant—again directed by Howard Hawks—again made a brief but memorable appearance in female clothes in the 1949 comedy I Was a Male War Bride.

The plot is based on true events that involved Belgian oceanographer Roger Charlier while serving as a military officer in Allied-occupied Germany after the Second World War. He described them in an eponymous newspaper article written under the pen name “Henri Rochard”. This is the name taken by Charlier’s alter ego and the film’s protagonist, Captain Henri Rochard, a French Army officer serving as a liaison to the US Army.

The plot begins in Heidelberg where Rochard meets an old acquaintance, US Army Lieutenant Catherine Gates (played by Ann Sheridan), part of the Women’s Army Corps. The two of them are given a joint mission of locating and recruiting a talented lens maker named Schindler (played by Martin Miller) who is said to live in a small remote town. Due to logistical issues and strict Army regulations, Rochard ends up in the sidecar of a motorcycle being driven by Gates, and what was to be a simple task gets complicated with both of them experiencing all kinds of adventures. Despite initial hostility, Rochard and Gates soon discover an irresistible attraction to each other and, following the successful completion of their task, decide to marry.

However, Rochard is just about to end his military service while Gates’ unit gets 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 a “war bride” is male or female.

The basic premise behind I Was a Male War Bride looks very much like those used in Hollywood “high concept” comedies made decades later. Thankfully, Howard Hawks was apparently aware of how thin it might be and instead used it almost as an afterthought in the final segments of the film. The script by experienced writers Charles Lederer, Leonard Spigelgass and Hagar Wilde instead pays much more attention to developing the relationship between Rochard and Gates during their grand adventure through the post-WW2 German countryside. There is much more emphasis on screwball themes of the battle of the sexes, some slapstick, and dry humorous observations by both characters, although it seems the scriptwriters took too much effort in making Rochard and Gates hostile towards each other only to have them suddenly fall in love.

I Was a Male War Bride was partly shot on location 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, the cast did a good job. The audience might have problems accepting Grant (who speaks with his native British accent) as a Frenchman, while other characters speak German or with heavy German accents. Despite that, Grant delivers a good performance and later went on record praising I Was a Male War Bride as one of his favourite films. The same can be said of Ann Sheridan, who has good chemistry with Grant.

The film didn’t create much enthusiasm among critics, but audiences 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 the majority would probably enjoy this film as a good piece of Classic Hollywood comedy.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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