''The Bride Wore Boots'' is a 1946

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 with

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

in the title role, playing opposite

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as '' The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in ...

. A very young

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

is seen in the film, directed by

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended Pittsburgh Cent ...

. This was Stanwyck's last feature comedy. Some years later, she complained to columnist

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 ...

, "I've always got my eye out for a good comedy. Remember ''

Ball of Fire ''Ball of Fire'' is a 1941 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. This Samuel Goldwyn Productions film (originally distributed by RKO) concerns a group of professors laboring to ...

'' and ''

The Lady Eve ''The Lady Eve'' is a 1941 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda.

''? But they don't seem to write that kind of comedy anymore -- just a series of gags."

Plot

Sally Warren runs a horse farm, but her husband Jeff has a dislike and fear of horses. He is a Civil War historian and lecturer, which bores Sally but is very popular with local ladies who call themselves the Mason-Dixon Dames. As a Christmas gift, Jeff tries to please his wife by buying her a horse called Albert, but her horse trainer Lance Gale, an old beau, insults Jeff about the kind of horse he picked. Sally in turn buys Jeff a desk that belonged to

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

, but the Dames claim it's a fake and one of them, Mary Lou Medford, makes a pass at Jeff. The next time Sally catches the same woman kissing Jeff, she sues him for divorce. Jeff ends up hiring Mary Lou as his secretary. To spite his wife, Jeff also enters Albert in the big Virginia Cup steeplechase race that Sally's always longed to win. Albert's jockey is thrown, so Jeff reluctantly leaps into the saddle. He is thrown off repeatedly while trying in vain to catch Lance's horse in the race. But his effort impresses Sally, who reconciles with Jeff at the finish.

Cast

as Sally Warren *

as Jeff Warren *

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 ...

as Mary Lou Medford *

Patric Knowles Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...

as Lance Gale *

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...

as Uncle Tod *

as Carol Warren

Production

In May 1945 Paramount announced they would make the film with Stanwyck, Cummings and Knowles. In June 1945 Cummings announced he would follow this film with ''Dishonorable Discharge'' from a story by John Farrow for Paramount.SCREEN NEWS: Teresa Wright Will Star in 'Bishop's Wife' Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. 1 June 1945: 20.

References

External links

*
The Bride Wore Boots
at Letterbox DVD
The Bride Wore Boots
at BFI 1946 films 1946 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Irving Pichel Films scored by Friedrich Hollaender Films set in Richmond, Virginia Films set in Virginia American horse racing films Paramount Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{romantic-comedy-film-stub