"Sailor Takes a Wife" is a rare thing--an MGM film that is just terrible. Normally, even their disappointing films from this era are pretty good, as the MGM touch was nearly always box office gold. Most of the reason it's so bad is the writing--and boy is it bad!
When the film begins, an incredibly stupid couple, John and Mary, decide to get married on their first date! Oddly, the star of the film, Robert Walker, did a film with a similar plot--but it turned out to be a gem ("The Clock", 1945). Much of the problem with it this time is that there was no context--you don't see the couple on their date and the sailor isn't about to be shipped overseas like the character in "The Clock". Instead, the couple just come off as impulsive and dumb. And, their dumbness is apparent throughout the film...not just at the beginning.
Oddly, although Mary plans on living without John as he has to report back to his base, the next day John shows up--announcing that he's been discharged for having a bad back. Now the couple who don't even know each other need to somehow work everything out and forge a new marriage. Not surprisingly, there are many kooky complications--few of which are funny.
There are MANY problems with the film other than the dumbness of the couple. There also is a horrid character played by Audrey Totter. While she was a wonderful actress and played wonderful femme fatales, here she is cartoon-like with a silly Romanian accent and over-acting galore. Also wasted are Hume Cronyn and Reginald Owen--good actors who are given one-dimensional writing. The only one who comes off well is Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, whose double entendres are occasionally funny...and a tad risqué! Overall, a terrible film with badly written characters and a super-contrived plot that never seems the least bit real or interesting.
When the film begins, an incredibly stupid couple, John and Mary, decide to get married on their first date! Oddly, the star of the film, Robert Walker, did a film with a similar plot--but it turned out to be a gem ("The Clock", 1945). Much of the problem with it this time is that there was no context--you don't see the couple on their date and the sailor isn't about to be shipped overseas like the character in "The Clock". Instead, the couple just come off as impulsive and dumb. And, their dumbness is apparent throughout the film...not just at the beginning.
Oddly, although Mary plans on living without John as he has to report back to his base, the next day John shows up--announcing that he's been discharged for having a bad back. Now the couple who don't even know each other need to somehow work everything out and forge a new marriage. Not surprisingly, there are many kooky complications--few of which are funny.
There are MANY problems with the film other than the dumbness of the couple. There also is a horrid character played by Audrey Totter. While she was a wonderful actress and played wonderful femme fatales, here she is cartoon-like with a silly Romanian accent and over-acting galore. Also wasted are Hume Cronyn and Reginald Owen--good actors who are given one-dimensional writing. The only one who comes off well is Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, whose double entendres are occasionally funny...and a tad risqué! Overall, a terrible film with badly written characters and a super-contrived plot that never seems the least bit real or interesting.