Easy to Wed

The "Morning Star" is desperately collecting their papers in fear of the powerful J. B. Allenbury. He promises to sue the paper for $2 million for defaming his daughter Connie Allenbury Chandler (Esther Williams). It's an open and shut case. The paper has been a thorn in the side of Allenbury and this is his chance to shut it down. Warren Haggerty (Keenan Wynn) leaves his wedding to performer Gladys Benton (Lucille Ball) to fix the problem. He has to rehire philandering reporter Bill Chandler (Van Johnson) to go on a mission to sully Connie's reputation. They come up with a scheme involving Gladys.

It gets a bit boring after the wedding. I've never seen Esther Williams as a particularly good actress. I hoped that reintroducing Lucille Ball would add some more screwball comedy. She does what she could but her role is somewhat limited. Van Johnson does the bulk of the comedic heavy lifting with mixed results. I like his solo duck hunting effort more so for its audacity. He is alone with the dog for a long time. As a trio, they are mostly bland like a 50's white toast sandwich with mayo. The movie picks up whenever Lucy gets to play. She's a fun drunk.