JUNE BRIDE (1948)

After two flops (OTT in DECEPTION/’46; DOA with WINTER MEETING/’48), Warners hurried 40-yr-old Bette Davis off the lot with an unsuitable role, then drove the message home with BEYOND THE FOREST/’49.* And it worked!  Bette bought out the rest of her contract only to spectacularly relaunch the next year on ALL ABOUT EVE/’50.  So, it’s a bit of a surprise to rediscover this innocuous pleasure, the sort of light comedy neither Warners nor Bette excelled at.  Both tended to press too hard; unlike co-star Robert Montgomery, tops at this sort of thing, here all but wrapping up his acting career.  (Just two more self-directed films to go.)  Taken from an unproduced(?) little boulevard play, Bette’s a career gal editor of a Women’s Magazine off to the MidWest and a ‘typical' American Family in the middle of winter (with staff) to work up the June Wedding Issue.  Montgomery’s a foreign correspondence without a war to report on, assigned to write the feature story.  His task complicated by their past affair and from a fall out between the engaged couple.  Nobody does much with this setup, certainly not overqualified stage director Bretaigne Windust.  With The Lunts, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, LIFE WITH FATHER in his past, who knew he couldn’t figure out the movies?  And there’s that unfortunate total capitulation of an ending with Davis stooping, but hardly to conquer.  Meanwhile, good supporting players from New York get nothing to do while the MidWest family bore.  But Montgomery does encourage Davis to throw away the modest gags to get the best results.  What a difference it makes!  And it’s fun to hear a stylishly trim, if older looking Davis, pronounce ‘chic’ as they did in '48.  It comes out ‘chick.’  Who knew?

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: And speaking of 1948 manners, the ‘hilarious’ Act Two ‘curtain’ has Montgomery spank the younger daughter for a big laugh.  Yuck, yuck.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *Check out DECEPTION, or complete the journey with BEYOND THE FOREST.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/12/deception-1946.html   https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/02/beyond-forest-1949.html