Once again, Ida Lupino does things "the hard way", but this time, it's for laughs. All of Hollywood's top female dramatic stars did a comedy at some point in their career, and this was Lupino's turn. It's another World War II crowded conditions comedy, and like "The Doughgirls", this features a woman scheming to pretend to be married just so she can get a room. Ida's a business woman near San Diego who desperately tries to find a lieutenant to be her husband, and a ton of complications occur.
The unlucky lieutenant she grabs onto is William Prince, and he is unaware that his commanding officer (Sydney Greenstreet) lives in the auto court run by acerbic Ruth Donnelly. Barbara Brown adds a few giggles as Greenstreet's squeaky voiced dimwit wife who interferes in the "newleywed's" business. More laughs are added by Willie Best as " Lucille" the handyman. He actually gets to say, "I never forget a face, especially when I sat on it!", although with total innocence. Louis Armstrong appears to entertain the troops with an unknown Dorothy Dandridge.
While Lupino had played some lighter parts earlier in career, by this time, she was one of Warner Brother's top drama stars, but if Davis, De Havilland and Stanwyck could do comedy, then Ida could do it as well. Ironically, other than a brief musical appearance in "Thank Your Lucky Stars" before this, she never varied from drama again. However, for a rare foray into comedy, she seems pretty comfortable and manages to enjoy herself. Not quite worthy of a "Garbo laughs!" slogan, she's nevertheless a lot of fun.
The unlucky lieutenant she grabs onto is William Prince, and he is unaware that his commanding officer (Sydney Greenstreet) lives in the auto court run by acerbic Ruth Donnelly. Barbara Brown adds a few giggles as Greenstreet's squeaky voiced dimwit wife who interferes in the "newleywed's" business. More laughs are added by Willie Best as " Lucille" the handyman. He actually gets to say, "I never forget a face, especially when I sat on it!", although with total innocence. Louis Armstrong appears to entertain the troops with an unknown Dorothy Dandridge.
While Lupino had played some lighter parts earlier in career, by this time, she was one of Warner Brother's top drama stars, but if Davis, De Havilland and Stanwyck could do comedy, then Ida could do it as well. Ironically, other than a brief musical appearance in "Thank Your Lucky Stars" before this, she never varied from drama again. However, for a rare foray into comedy, she seems pretty comfortable and manages to enjoy herself. Not quite worthy of a "Garbo laughs!" slogan, she's nevertheless a lot of fun.