"Bride by Mistake", while having the pedigree of a story by Norman Krasna, and an updated (to wartime) screenplay by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, is ultimately light-hearted romantic fluff, a 'B' feature that wartime audiences loved, but seems quaint and dated, today. This isn't a put-down of the film; I enjoyed it, and star Laraine Day has a timeless, fresh-scrubbed beauty that can still win hearts, in our more jaded times, but don't expect it to be released on DVD anytime in the near future...
The story is an oft-told one; rich girl, not wanting to marry a 'gold-digger', has her friend/secretary pose as her, and looks for someone to 'fall' for her as an 'average' girl, instead of a wealthy one (of course, when the girl is Day, 'average' just doesn't really apply!) She almost immediately meets handsome AAF Captain Anthony Travis (Aussie actor Alan Marshal, working hard to affect an American accent), who is attracted to her...but she decides to test his affection, by thrusting him at the bogus rich girl, again and again...until, surprise, he finally proposes to the 'rich' one!
This being a comedy, things DO work out, and Day and Marshal head for a motel (after MARRYING, of course!)
The film features a terrific supporting cast, including ageless Edgar Buchanan as Day's guardian, beautiful Marsha Hunt (who never achieved major stardom, but SHOULD have) as her secretary, ever-reliable Allyn Joslyn, hilarious as the mid-western Mideast linguist secretly married to the secretary, and especially Slim Summerville, in a small but memorable role of the caretaker observing all the monkey business.
Not a 'classic', but enjoyable on it's own terms, "Bride by Mistake" is a happy little time-passer...
The story is an oft-told one; rich girl, not wanting to marry a 'gold-digger', has her friend/secretary pose as her, and looks for someone to 'fall' for her as an 'average' girl, instead of a wealthy one (of course, when the girl is Day, 'average' just doesn't really apply!) She almost immediately meets handsome AAF Captain Anthony Travis (Aussie actor Alan Marshal, working hard to affect an American accent), who is attracted to her...but she decides to test his affection, by thrusting him at the bogus rich girl, again and again...until, surprise, he finally proposes to the 'rich' one!
This being a comedy, things DO work out, and Day and Marshal head for a motel (after MARRYING, of course!)
The film features a terrific supporting cast, including ageless Edgar Buchanan as Day's guardian, beautiful Marsha Hunt (who never achieved major stardom, but SHOULD have) as her secretary, ever-reliable Allyn Joslyn, hilarious as the mid-western Mideast linguist secretly married to the secretary, and especially Slim Summerville, in a small but memorable role of the caretaker observing all the monkey business.
Not a 'classic', but enjoyable on it's own terms, "Bride by Mistake" is a happy little time-passer...