|
By
NICK ZEGARAC
Howard Hawk's "I Was a Male
War Bride" has since gone on to become a benchmark
in screwball comedy. Grant plays French officer,
Capt. Henri Rochard, stationed in post-war
Germany. He falls for a stubborn, wisecracking
American WAC operator, Catharine Gates (Ann
Sheridan). After a secret mission goes happily
awry, Gates and Rochard discover that they are in
love. They marry, only to discover that U.S.
immigration laws have no provision for admitting
foreign husbands into the country. To alleviate
the confusion -- though ultimately more results --
Rochard files for his landed immigrant papers
under the status of a "war bride." This gets him
past the paper work but not beyond security, who
at first do not believe their eyes, then assume
that the marriage license is a forgery. Rochard is
detained from leaving France, forced to live in a
youth hostile and then herded into a hotel with a
bunch of legitimate war brides who, of course, do
not accept him to sleep in the same area.
This is one of those great comedy of errors, in
which two people, destined to be together by the
final fade out, have to go through the rarest of
hoops in order to achieve that blissful
conclusion.
The DVD transfer is, in a word -- gorgeous! A
stunning black and white picture with an
exceptionally balanced gray scale is pleasant and
easy on the eyes. There are rare occasions where
film grain appears and some age related artifacts
but nothing that will distract one from immersing
themselves in this classic screwball. There are no
digital anomalies for a smooth visual presentation
throughout. The audio is mono but well balanced.
There are no extras. |
