Always a Bridesmaid (1943) User Reviews

I demand an annulment!

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 22 June 2022]

I can usually find one or two laughs among dated 30's and 40's humor, but I didn't even once giggle or smile or even guffaw at the antics going on in this deadly dull Universal Andrews Sisters musical. They are performers on a lonely hearts club radio show thanks to advertiser Billy Gilbert whose tired jolly but temperamental fat man becomes annoying with every moment he's on the screen. His destruction of the English language gimmick goes way overboard, showing that certain movie comics should be relegated to minor supporting roles than being front and center.

There's a boring romance taking up way too much time between Patric Knowles and Grace McDonald which is utilized to help expose the criminal elements going on behind the scenes of the lonely hearts club, and at just over an hour, that makes this film drag on longer than the train on a royal princess's wedding gown. Charles Butterworth provides his typical deadpan humor, but he doesn't get any laughs either.

Every now and then, there's the interruption of an Andrews Sisters song, but don't expect to hear any of their big hits. They have a lot of footage involving themselves in the plot, but the music department did not pick out any good songs for them to sing. In fact, the songs they are forced to perform are the most boring I've ever heard. When the Andrews Sisters become boring, you know there's a problem. I usually find one or two things to enjoy in these wartime B musicals, but this one sinks the bride and groom on the top of the wedding cake down to the bottom.

Did this free-for-all even have a screenplay?

[SimonJack · 4/10 · 28 October 2022]

Next to Bob Hope, The Andrews Sisters probably did more than any other entertainers to lift the spirits, help keep hope alive, and entertain troops and people on the home fronts of the Allies during World War II. Their top tunes from the late 1930s and 1940s remain the favorite recordings of those songs well into the 21st century. Some of their debuts and renditions stand alone as the classics of those tunes, such as "Bei mir bist du shoen." And, who else, but the Andrews Sisters could sing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"? Some of their other big hits were: "Don't sit under the apple tree," "Rum and Coca-Cola," "Beer barrel polka," "Pistol packin' mama," "Accentuate the positive," "Shoo, shoo baby," "Don't fence me in," "I'll be with you in apple blossom time," and "Straighten up and fly right."

Besides their live performances, recordings and USO trips to entertain the troops, the sisters were in several movies during WW II These were mostly comedy musicals, and they were the only feature films they would be in. "Always a Bridesmaid" is the only one that didn't fare well. It's gross box office was under $330,000. The sisters co-starred in this Universal film with Patric Knowledge and Grace McDonald. While Knowles was a leading man for Universal, he was the best they could come up with for this film. McDonald was om fewer than two dozen films. The only other recognized cast of the day are Bill Gilbert and Charles Butterworth, who played supporting roles in comedies. But her, Butterworth's Col. Winchester is flat as a pancake, with zero humor. And, Gilbert's Nick Neopolitan is way overboard loud and disruptive is just about as much humor as the other.

Overall, this is a lousy screenplay. In just over one hour, Universal tried to cram an undercover investigation of a crime scam, a romance, a musical - with numbers scattered throughout, some kind of lonely hearts radio program and club. The result is a mess with choppy, dull pieces interspersed with some mayhem teen dance numbers and an Andrews Sisters number here and there. And, unfortunately, their songs are all forgettable - not a hit tune among them. And their singings of these numbers isn't up to par for what fans of the sisters have heard and remember.

The sisters were in some very good morale-boosting films during the war years, but not in lead roles. While none of their films were blockbusters, most of the rest made profits with good box office draw "Buck Privates" of 1941 starred Abbott and Costello, and finished 50th for the year with a box office of $4.0 million. Other good film wee "In the Navy" of 1941 and "Private Buckaroo" of 1942, with Harry James and his Orchestra.

Here are the best lines in this film - about the only good ones.

Tony Warren (Knowle), "What'd he do?" Linda Perkins (McDonald), "Well, he... he tried to hold my hand."

Ephraim - County Clerk, "It's a cinch no man'd get married to keep out of jail."

Ephraim - County Clerk, "Aw, son, getting' married is just like learnin' how to swim - hold your nose and blinkin."

Nicholas, "But I don't want to be reimbursed. I want to be paid."

Patty Andrews, "Where were you?" Nicholas, "I was taking a nap. After I faint, I always get sleepy."