I Was a Male War Bride

Play trailer

I Was a Male War Bride

Released Aug 11, 1949

1h 45m

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

72%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Henry Rochard (Cary Grant) is a captain in the French army who is forced to work with the combative but beautiful U.S. Army Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan). While on assignment in postwar Germany, Rochard and Gates, who can't stand each other at first, have a series of arguments and zany calamities, but then fall in love and marry. When Gates is ordered to go back to the States, Rochard must find a way to accompany her under the terms of the War Bride Act.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Bob Thomas

Associated Press

It is never very close-knit, but provides a number of comic situations that are good for guffaws.

Jul 24, 2019

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

The flimsiness of the film's foundations and the disorder of its episodes provoke the inevitable impression that it all fell together en route.

Rated: 2.5/5

Mar 25, 2006

Full Review

Don Druker

Chicago Reader

Howard Hawks's darkest comedy (1949) -- a loosely constructed, episodic film that traces the progressive humiliations suffered by Free French army captain Cary Grant.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

There's a slowness to the pacing and the jokes that fail to fit the screwball nature of the couple's chaotic circumstances.

Rated: 4/10

Aug 13, 2020

Full Review

Dudley Early

Austin American-Statesman

This picture lives up to its advance notice: It is a very funny motion picture.

Jun 23, 2020

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

High-spirited subversive loosely structured comedy.

Rated: B

Jun 1, 2008

Full Review

Read all reviews

S R

They just didn't pull this one off, the jokes just fell flat despite there being some potential here. Saw on TCM.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/24

Full Review

StephenPaul C

LOL, the funniest 1.75 hours ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/23

Full Review

deke p

1949! CAREY GRANT always great, tho mistaking his regular accent as 'FRENCH' is impossible. And ANN SHERIDAN was good. Interesting, and a bit goofy comedy. Was on the tv 6.26.22., late nite Note to sef: next time concentrate on the last half.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Ed M

Weak. Hard to believe Howard Hawks and Cary Grant would do something this weak.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/31/20

Full Review

steve d

ridiculous but a lot of fun.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The title may say it all but it takes over an hour for the punchline to materialise. Before that, Ann Sheridan and Cary Grant are, respectively, a US WAC and a French Captain on a mission in post-war Germany to help a scientist to escape to France. They have one of those antagonistic wise-cracking relationships that you know will lead to love as soon as they stop fighting. Director Howard Hawks allows the stars to find their own rhythm, which seems to keep Grant on the wrong foot while Sheridan gets the breaks. After the plot sees the couple tie the knot, there is the little matter of getting Grant a visa to the United States (absurdly, you must remember he's French). Fortunately, there is a Congressional order allowing "war brides" of US service personnel to enter the US and thus begins Grant's comic predicament and, wait for it, the final punchline. Hawks somehow manages to sustain an epic gradual build and the film doesn't disappoint. Not laugh aloud funny but better than expected; I suspect audiences in the 1940s found it amusingly transgressive.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Howard Hawks

Director

Cary Grant

Capt. Henri Rochard

Ann Sheridan

Lt. Catherine Gates

Marion Marshall

Lt. Kitty Lawrence

Randy Stuart

Lt. Eloise Billings

Bill Neff

Capt. Jack Ramsey

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

It Happens Every Spring

88%

66%

It Happens Every Spring

Watchlist

How to Marry a Millionaire

81%

78%

How to Marry a Millionaire

Watchlist

Cluny Brown

94%

79%

Cluny Brown

Watchlist

Monkey Business

78%

68%

Monkey Business

Watchlist

Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!

30%

46%

Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Henry Rochard (Cary Grant) is a captain in the French army who is forced to work with the combative but beautiful U.S. Army Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan). While on assignment in postwar Germany, Rochard and Gates, who can't stand each other at first, have a series of arguments and zany calamities, but then fall in love and marry. When Gates is ordered to go back to the States, Rochard must find a way to accompany her under the terms of the War Bride Act.

Director: Howard Hawks
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenwriter: Henri Rochard, Charles Lederer, Leonard Spigelgass, Hagar Wilde
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 11, 1949, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Mono

Most Popular at Home Now