It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Graceless, unfunny, illogical, frustrating dumb movie. Ann Sheridan marries a 'Frenchman' after WWII and can't seem to get the bureaucracy to enable him to leave Europe to move to the States as her husband. War brides aplenty, the female war brides, of course had little problem being brought back in triumph by their US military husbands. War 'grooms', such as Mr. Grant, had a hard time of it. However, that is really neither here nor there. This movie is not very amusing, I found it silly, witless, and very disappointing considering the cast. Cary Grant is wonderful in anything, but he goes through much trial and trauma here. Ann Sheridan has about as graceful and romantic as an old, grizzled drill instructor. She is so bossy, mean, witless, and graceless on wonders WHY these two ever got married. As for the Male War Bride bit, there are about 10-15 slightly amusing minutes of Mr. Grant, looking ridiculous in a hideous wig and blouse and skirt. Haw haw. Disappointing, though apparently some love this movie and consider it a classic.

In postwar Germany, French captain Cary Grant is assigned to work on a mission with American lieutenant Ann Sheridan. The two have a past that we're never completely clued in on but it leads to them bickering for the first half of the movie. While struggling through a series of misadventures, the two eventually fall in love. But the misadventures are only starting as they soon discover when they try to get married and have to contend with bureaucratic hassles and headaches.According to Robert Osborne on TCM, Cary Grant considered this his best comedy. Given how many classic comedies he was in, it's hard to see why. This is good but it's not THAT good. The film reunites Grant with Howard Hawks, with whom he made some great films years before. It's also Grant's only film with Ann Sheridan, whose career seemed to take a nosedive after this. She's fun here although her character is a little grating at first. Cary does most of the heavy lifting on the comedy front. He's as charming as ever. It's a funny enough comedy helped by the likability of the two stars. The most famous part of the movie, where Grant dresses in drag (and makes for one ugly woman), doesn't occur until near the end and is only good for a chuckle or two. Fans of Hawks and the two leads will want to check it out and decide for themselves.

. . . proved more dangerous to film in Real Life than lensing SCHINDLER'S LIST. However, you'd never know this from a casual viewing of I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE, the first half of which features Cary Grant's and Ann Sheridan's characters searching post-WWII Germany for a black marketeer named "Schindler," who apparently grinds rare military-grade lenses. Filmming had to break off for months mid-shoot as Cary Grant, playing the BRIDE, nearly died of hepatitis, while co-star Ann Sheridan battled life-threatening pleurisy and pneumonia. Most Americans forget or never learned that U.S. Gen. "I-Like-Ike" Eisenhower, to avenge WWII, killed several MILLION German P.O.W.s and civilians through denying them access to food and medicine from 1945 through 1948. (These facts are NOT in most history books, because War's winners write the texts, which then are censored by the Texas State School Board.) When I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE filmed ON LOCATION, every inch of Germany was crawling with corpses and the deadliest germs known to mankind, making it one big happy Death Camp. But Hollywood's moguls had no qualms about nearly sacrificing the lives of Mr. Grant and Ms. Sheridan (plus probably ACTUAL fatalities among the lesser known cast and crew) on the altar of political expediency (as in, "Hey, Middle America, watch this movie and then book a Bavarian vacation!") while the fat cats themselves were snuggled safely in their Tinsel Town castles. If all this sounds like an apt analogy for generals and privates in War, you only need to watch I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE with informed eyes to notice how haggard Mr. Grant and Ms. Sheridan look towards the end. You may conclude that this flick was a total travesty, parading as Art.

Though I didn't see it until today I think I'm fairly safe in saying that this entry hasn't worn well. Without researching the reviews at the time I'm prepared to believe it was well received and the fact that it relied solely on the two stars to sell it - there is not one single 'name' in the supporting cast - speaks volumes for the box office clout of Grant and Sheridan. Apparently based on real events in the life of a French soldier in World War II Cary Grant, despite bearing a French name, Henri Rochard, and clearly a member of the French armed forces, makes no attempt at a French accent and Hawks wastes half the running time on the Beatrice and Benedek aspect of the relationship before getting to the meat, the fact that Grant, in order to enter the United States, has to be classified as a 'war bride' and when one of the biggest jokes is this 'bride' forced to sleep in a bath, we lose hope of much better. I found it just about watchable.