I Was a Male War Bride

Dir. Howard Hawks. 1949, 105 mins. 35mm archival print from 20th Century Fox. With Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan. Captain Henri Rochard (Grant) is a French officer assigned to work with American Lieut. Catherine Gates (Sheridan). Through a wacky series of misadventures, they fall in love and marry. When the war ends and Catherine’s army unit gets recalled back to the United States, the only way she and Henri can stay together is by invoking a law allowing the spouse of American army personnel to enter the country. The sight of Grant in a military-issue skirt and a horsetail wig is among the highlights of this zany gender reversal farce, one of Hawks’s personal favorites.

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