Rent I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

Odd Couple. - I Was a Male War Bride review by Steve

Broad farce which exists solely to get Cary Grant into drag. It's an odd couple screwball comedy set in Germany after WWII. While working for the military, a French Captain (Grant) and US officer (Ann Sheridan) fight like wildcats and then decide to get married. But government bureaucracy means he is only able to go to America as a war bride.

The most interesting aspect of the film is the subversion of gender roles. Sheridan is always in charge. She drives the motor bike, he sits in the side car. She solves the perfunctory MacGuffin. And he ultimately puts on a woman's uniform in an attempt to board a ship sailing to his wife's country.

It's not a typical Howard Hawks comedy. The pace is slower. There is far more slapstick. Like when sleeping Cary speeds into a haystack on the motorbike. Sheridan is no fast talking dame, though there is a nice moment when she does an impression of one of Hawks' former leads, Lauren Bacall. The support cast is unfamiliar and lacklustre.

The location work in war ravaged Germany adds interest. The script was co-written by Charles Lederer who adapted His Girl Friday for Hawks and Grant, but this is not in that class. The dialogue lacks wit. The humour comes from the crazy scenarios and the quarrelling leads. The film leans on their star chemistry, and they make the film fun, if unexceptional.