The Lady Takes a Sailor

Romantic comedies usually involve two characters in conflict. To make it work, for starters, they need to be likable, somewhat evenly matched, and in a fun and funny situation. That's why "The Lady Takes A Sailor" doesn't work.

Jane Wyman and Dennis Morgan are in an interesting (not fun or funny) situation: her career and personal reputation- like Aimee Semple McPherson's, a few years earlier- hinge on proving the truth of a wild story behind her brief disappearance, while Morgan's career depends on keeping that truth a military secret. Since Jane is clearly the wronged party- she's shipwrecked, kidnapped, drugged, mocked, and lied to by Morgan- we're rooting for her, but amid mixed messages that she should sacrifice everything for an ungrateful military.

Wyman and Morgan are not equally matched. There's no cleverness (or fun) in their conflict, just a lot of confrontation, in which he effortlessly bullies, stalks, and taunts her. She's a helpless victim and he's basically a cad and a thug.

Morgan's character is therefore totally unlikable, and the idea that he might win this fight, much less get the girl, clouds any fun that this film has to offer. With all that, it hardly matters that the film is completely unfunny, or that the message is (once again) that women don't really need careers when a man- (even a repellent one!)- comes along.

Incidentally, nothing against Wyman, Morgan, director Michael Curtiz, or Eve Arden, who all had fine careers and did excellent work elsewhere.