Rent Without Reservations (1946)
3.3 of 5 from 55 ratings
1h 43min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Claudette Colbert and John Wayne star in this charming romantic comedy from celebrated Director Mervyn LeRoy. Kit (Claudette Colbert) is a bestselling author travelling by train to Hollywood, where they plan to turn her latest book into a blockbuster. On the train, she meets Rusty Thomas (John Wayne), a Marine pilot who just happens to hate her book - and tells her so - not realising who she is! Kit, however, is convinced that Rusty is just the man to star in the Hollywood adaptation - and won't take no for an answer! She pursues him across the country by rail and by road, all the while keeping her identity secret. But the path to Hollywood - or true love - never runs smooth and the couple must endure seemingly endless complications as they travel together... - Actors:
- Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Don Defore, Anne Triola, Phil Brown, Frank Puglia, Thurston Hall, Dona Drake, Fernando Alvarado, Charles Arnt, Louella Parsons, Eric Alden, Fred Aldrich, Jose Alvarado, Ernest Anderson, Lois Austin, Griff Barnett, William 'Billy' Benedict, Lee Bennett, Jack Benny
- Directors:
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Producers:
- Jesse Lasky Jr.
- Writers:
- Andrew Solt, Jane Allen, Mae Livingston
- Studio:
- DD Home Entertainment
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Romance
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Reviews (2) of Without Reservations
All Change - Without Reservations review by CH
Think of John Wayne and there come to mind a big gun, an even larger hat and quite possibly a horse. So how, in Without Reservations (1946), does Claudette Colbert fit into such a scenario? Dodge City is hardly the place for a best-selling author. No, this is only a Western in the sense that she is heading West, to Hollywood, upon a sleeper train to discuss the filming, with Clark Gable and Lana Turner, of her highly-regarded book which turns around new hopes for human society.
As the title suggests, she has to make do with lesser sleeping quarters upon a crowded train, which brings her into the company of Wayne, a no-holds-barred, plain-speaking kinda guy whom, despite initial, er, reservations, she realises would be perfect to portray her novel's hero on screen.
She cannot pitch this notion to him directly as she is keeping herself incognito. Much, but not all, of the film takes place aboard the train – one with a dining carriage, a far cry from today's forlorn trolleys (where even those still exist). Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, long adept at fast-moving movies, the dialogue is snappy, with frequent reference to a matter of concern to one and all; that is, “bananas”: no, this is not a health matter but slang for dollars.
Banana can have another slang meaning, if you get my drift – and perhaps that is hinted at it the film's final, lingering screen-filling shot; but this is not the place to reveal that; watch this is, and enjoy the good time with which Claudette Colbert is synonymous, in the nicest possible sense of the phrase.
Oh, and do not blink or you will miss Cary Grant showing that is is a thoroughly good sport. He was born with the twinkle in his eye which he deploys to good effect here. A gentleman can be judged by his eyebrows.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Some Time Ago - Without Reservations review by Cato
Wayne well into his career, 39 years old, and Colbert, 43, gave us a film which would have seemed pretty funny in its time, but unfortunately it now seems so ancient that it's only for the true historians of cinema to find it amusing.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.