ksf-2 Review of Every Girl Should Be Married

Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)

Lotsa chasing going on - post war Cary Grant

[7/10 · 31 December 2007]

*** Minor Spoilers: This fun film covers a lot of ground - kind of a love triangle, with some discussion of what women have to do to "catch the right man" going on about halfway through. Betsy Drake as Anabel is chasing (stalking) Cary Grant as Madison Brown, but she ends up being chased by another guy (Franchot Tone). They were deep in the Production Code during this time -- some things had to be hinted at.....ie Mr. Sanford ( from the restaurant) just wants to sleep with Anabel, not marry her. (Anabel actually says "Mr. Sanford just wants to play around" later in the film.) Also love the line where Madison says "the only place i'm safe is in a Turkish bath, and even there i'm not so sure..." When Anabel makes dinner, Julie the housemate says "It's not the dinner that wins him, it's the trimmings, like your dress, your hair..." Later, she says "They're having dinner at eight and who- knows-what at nine!" Notice Eddy Albert as Joe, the boyfriend from back home. (he would have been 42 by now). Also note that Diana Lynn gets top billing over Betsy Drake, since she had the bigger career established at the time. Things sure worked out in real life -- CG married Betsy D exactly a year to the day after this film was released on Christmas day! Don Hartman, director, producer, and writer, had done a bunch of the "Road" movies with Hope/Crosby throughout the 1940s, so he was sure familiar with comedy.