Even at a much younger age, PATRICIA NEAL looked too smart, strong-willed and intelligent to play flighty feminine leads in the kind of wacky romantic comedies the Warner studio was used to churning out. She looks almost ill at ease in a role which calls for a bright-eyed ingenue like Joan Leslie who would have been ideal for this sort of thing.
But the rest of the cast has a high time playing the hi-jinks of a script based on Norman Krasna's Broadway play. Jack Carson is especially able as the sort of lovable dumb guy (with those great double takes that he specialized in) caught up in a situation involving a British woman (Virginia Field) who is supposed to be coming to the states to marry him. When the arrangements are delayed, he meets and marries someone else without telling her. She finally makes it to the states and he and pal Ronald Reagan get caught up in a series of lies that complicate Reagan's relationship with fiance Patricia Neal.
Of course, all of the misunderstandings could have been cleared up if someone just told the truth--but then there would be no picture.
Edward Arnold as a pompous senator (was there any other kind?) and Wayne Morris as a serviceman friend hired to help deceive everyone are both experts in this kind of farce. Kathleen Alexander does a nice job as Arnold's patient wife.
Patricia Neal would have to wait awhile before Warners found some suitable roles for her--but this film debut was almost successful despite the obvious miscasting.
But the rest of the cast has a high time playing the hi-jinks of a script based on Norman Krasna's Broadway play. Jack Carson is especially able as the sort of lovable dumb guy (with those great double takes that he specialized in) caught up in a situation involving a British woman (Virginia Field) who is supposed to be coming to the states to marry him. When the arrangements are delayed, he meets and marries someone else without telling her. She finally makes it to the states and he and pal Ronald Reagan get caught up in a series of lies that complicate Reagan's relationship with fiance Patricia Neal.
Of course, all of the misunderstandings could have been cleared up if someone just told the truth--but then there would be no picture.
Edward Arnold as a pompous senator (was there any other kind?) and Wayne Morris as a serviceman friend hired to help deceive everyone are both experts in this kind of farce. Kathleen Alexander does a nice job as Arnold's patient wife.
Patricia Neal would have to wait awhile before Warners found some suitable roles for her--but this film debut was almost successful despite the obvious miscasting.