Every Girl Should Be Married

What a wonderfully flexible this thing is, cinema. Within it, one can structure all sorts of things that can reach us.

Probably the two that are the most profound are how movies define fate and sometimes in the same breath, love.

This is one that deals with both. And the love part has nothing to do with relationships but with the simple charm of a type of woman. This was a big success when new, but today isn't even worth putting on DVD.

Odd, because for what it is, it is perfect. The goal is to parade an enticing woman, a real natural charmer.

The girl in this case is Betsy Drake, playing against Cary Grant who does his usual thing. She is something between an Audrey Hepburn and Debbie Reynolds, both of whom did this sort of movie frequently.

Her chin is narrow which gives the effect of an overly large and expressive mouth, used very theatrically. She also has a slight lisp. Combined with her exuberant manner and honest presentation, she is absolutely captivating.

And so Grant thought as well because he moved in with her during this and married her shortly thereafter.

How odd it is that someone could peak so in one film (this her first) and fade so quickly from importance.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

As a Cary Grant fan, I enjoyed this movie tremendously. The humor was light hearted and the plot sweet, which can now be interpreted as sick, demented and freaky. A nice change from the ritzy movies of the 40s where everyone is wealthy in top hats and tails. This is a down to earth movie and should be taken with the girl meets boy girl gets boy idea in mind. As for the stalking, it seems to me she put a lot of work into getting her man so to speak in a nice way. Never once did I see it as "spook" movie or psycho thriller. However, if there was a remake in 2006, it most certainly would come out to be an R movie with a lot of gore and hype. Enjoy for the era.

Every Girl Should Be Married is one of my favorites. It's a lighthearted romantic comedy from the 40's, not a stalker movie. Although I'll admit that it could be remade as a 90's stalker movie if someone wanted to.

It's more about the single-minded determination of one young woman to nab the man she wants. The only part of it that might keep you up nights is wondering whether or not your wife was that scheming in her plan to marry you.

I think Betsy Drake and Cary Grant were hilarious. The scene where Cary Grant's character is delivering a speech to the Lady's group is a classic. I wish that it would come out on DVD so that I could delete it from its permanent spot on my TiVo.

Lonely department store shopgirl Anabel Sims (Betsy Drake) gets hit by love-at-first-sight when she sees pediatrician Dr. Madison Brown (Cary Grant). The only problem is, he doesn't feel the same way, but she's determined to make it happen, even as she's pursued by the rich owner (Franchot Tone) of the store where she works.

This is primarily a showcase for Betsy Drake, so those who don't like her persona are likely to enjoy this less than I did. She and Grant were dating at the time, and they'd marry shortly after the film was released. Despite the seeming control one would assume Don Hartman had, seeing as he received three credits (writing, producing, directing), the truth seems to be that others were really calling the shots. Studio owner Howard Hughes monkeyed around with things so much that studio chief Dore Schary quit. Hughes allowed Grant to rewrite the script and have final say on all subsequent creative decisions, which Grant willing accepted since he wanted to highlight Drake. Things worked out in the end, as this ended up being RKO's most profitable film of the year. I thought that it was funny, and I found Drake charming. Grant doesn't get to shine as much, unfortunately.

This is a sweet little film with a few laughs.. I don't think anyone should worry about Cary Grant being stalked by poor little Anabel, I find her a sweet change from the Gold-Diggers in some of my favorite movies.. such as "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "How to Marry a Millionaire" Instead of being after a millionaire, poor Anabel is just after a husband ... plain and simple. Yes, she may take a few more pains to win her man than most of us.. but that is just part of the humor of the movie. If you are just starting to watch classics like this one.. please give the two films mentioned above a try, and also definately "Bringing up Baby" which also stars Cary Grant as the poor target of another lovesick loony.. this one played by a cute young Kathrine Hepburn. It is a crazy ride.. but give it a chance.