''Every Girl Should Be Married'' is a

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Don Hartman Samuel Donald Hartman (18 November 1900, New York - 23 March 1958, Palm Springs, California) was an American screenwriter and director and former production head of Paramount Pictures. He and Stephen Morehouse Avery were nominated for the Acade ...

and starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

Betsy Drake Betsy Drake (September 11, 1923 – October 27, 2015) was an American actress, writer, and psychotherapist. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant. Early life and education Betsy Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was b ...

and

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

. Grant and Drake married a year after the film's release.

Plot summary

Department store salesclerk Anabel Sims (

) is very enamoured with the idea of getting married. So when handsome

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

Dr. Madison Brown (

) asks for her help in making a purchase, she decides that he is the one for her. He is quite happy as a bachelor, but Anabel proves to be a very determined schemer. She learns all she can about him, everything from where he went to school to his favorite foods. Madison soon realizes her intentions and does his best to fend off the young woman. Anabel makes a reservation at a restaurant on a day when she knows that Madison habitually dines there. In an attempt to make him jealous, she pretends to be waiting for wealthy, three-times-married playboy Roger Sanford (

), who happens to be her employer and Madison's university classmate. By chance, Roger shows up. Fortunately for her, Roger believes that she is using Madison as a ruse to get acquainted with ''him''. However, the maneuver fails; Madison's feelings remain unchanged. Anabel comes up with more ingenious schemes, but they are all unsuccessful. However, Roger falls in love with her. He eventually asks her to marry him, but she only invites him to dinner at her home. When Anabel's best friend Julie (

Diana Lynn Diana Marie Lynn (born Dolores Eartha Loehr, July 5, 1926 – December 18, 1971) was an American actress. Early years Lynn was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Louis Loehr, was an oil supply executive, and her mother, Martha Loe ...

) warns Madison, he begins to worry, knowing something of Roger's success with women. The doctor invites himself to the little soirée. While waiting for Anabel, they are unexpectedly joined by "Old Joe" (

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...

), Anabel's longtime hometown beau, who announces that he and Anabel are finally going to get married. At first, Madison congratulates them, but after thinking about it, makes his own bid for her hand. Anabel leaves the decision up to Joe, who bows out, saying that he only wants her to be happy. After Joe leaves, Madison informs Anabel that her research on him was incomplete; he recognized "Joe's" voice as that of a radio performer he listens to frequently. Madison and Anabel are soon discussing their wedding plans with a clergyman.

Cast

as Dr. Madison W. Brown *

as Roger Sanford *

as Julie Hudson *

as Anabel Sims *

Alan Mowbray Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in W ...

as Mr. Spitzer *

Elisabeth Risdon Elisabeth Risdon (born Daisy Cartwright Risdon; 26 April 1887 – 20 December 1958) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1913 and 1952. A beauty in her youth, she usually played in society parts. In later ...

as Nurse Mary Nolan *

Richard Gaines Richard Houston Gaines (July 23, 1904 – July 20, 1975) was an American actor. He appeared in over 75 film and television productions between 1940 and 1962. Early years Gaines was born in Indian Territory and grew up in Texas, learning "to h ...

as Sam McNutt *

Harry Hayden Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

as Gogarty *

Chick Chandler Fehmer Christy "Chick" Chandler (January 18, 1905 – September 30, 1988) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 130 films from 1925 through the mid-1950s. Chandler was known for his starring role as Toubo Smith in ...

as Harry, the Soda Clerk *

Leon Belasco Leon Belasco (born Leonid Simeonovich Berladsky; 11 October 1902 – 1 June 1988) was a Russian-American actor and musician who had a 60-year career in film and television from the 1920s to the 1980s, appearing in more than 100 films. Musi ...

as Violinist *

Fred Essler Fred Essler (born Fritz Essler; 13 February 1895 – 17 January 1973) was an American actor. He worked film, television and on stage. He was born Fritz Essler, on 13 February 1895 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, (now Austria); and, died on, 17 Janu ...

as Pierre, the Restaurant Owner *

Anna Q. Nilsson Anna Quirentia Nilsson (March 30, 1888 – February 11, 1974) was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies. Early life Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her ...

as Saleslady *

as Harry Proctor, aka "Old Joe" (uncredited)

Production

''Every Girl Should Be Married'' was based on a short story written by Eleanor Harris in an October 1947 edition of the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

''. The film's lead actors,

and

were married in real life one year after the film's release. Drake was Grant's third wife. Grant spotted Drake performing in a stage play in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

called ''Deep are the Roots'' two years before the film's release. Grant was reportedly "intrigued by her talent and charm." The couple met a year before the film's release aboard the luxury liner ''

RMS Queen Mary RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. ''Queen Mary'', along with , ...

'' traveling from England back to the United States, where they were formally introduced to each other on the liner by actress and fellow passenger

Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...

. Grant and Drake became friends and soon were romantically involved. Drake was a stage actress from America with no film credits to her name at that time, but Cary Grant convinced

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...

, head of production at

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, to sign Drake to a contract with the company.

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the t ...

was initially intended to play Anabel Sims, but Grant and industrialist

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

wanted Drake to play the role. Grant made sure he had a say in anything that concerned Drake's performance from lighting to dialogue and used his influence on everyone involved with the film. According to Cary Grant's biographer Marc Eliot, Grant knew that acting on screen with Drake was a risky proposition and that the general public would rightly speculate that she had gotten the part only because she was his girlfriend. According to an interview with

gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal li ...

Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...

, Drake believed if everyone thought she had gotten her breakthrough because of Grant, then they were very wrong about him and her. She further suggested that Grant had simply made it possible for them to share a creative experience with their real-life chemistry. The film turned out to be a positive experience for both Grant and Drake, with the only downside being that Hughes insisting on becoming actively involved in every aspect of its production, with the result that Schary abruptly resigned from RKO. Hughes then allowed Grant to rewrite much of the script, and even to instruct director Don Hartman in how to shoot several scenes, so as to shift much of the film's visual emphasis from his character to Drake's. In the biography ''Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart'', authors Charles Higham and Roy Mosely claimed that "Cary watched every move Betsy made on the set, endlessly checking her out, imitating her cruelly in scenes, and at times encouraging her — mistakenly — to imitate

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

's mannered playing.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised Betsy Drake's performance, saying that she displays "a refreshingly natural comic spirit". Likewise, the weekly American entertainment trade magazine ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described Drake's performance in the film as "a tour de force in the romantic comedy vein." while calling the film "one of those rare comic delicacies that are always in good season." Dennis Schwartz was more critical of the film and said, "Writer-director Don Hartman fails to get much comedy out of the comedy". The film was RKO's most lucrative production of 1948, making $775,000 in profits.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p232 Grant and Drake reprised their roles for a one-hour ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' broadcast on two occasions; the first broadcast was held on 27 June 1949, and the second on 17 April 1950.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * * {{AFI film, id=25531, title=Every Girl Should Be Married 1948 films 1948 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Films scored by Leigh Harline Films directed by Don Hartman 1940s English-language films 1940s American films