Director: George Stevens
Distributor: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Top Billed Actors: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Supporting Actor - Charles Coburn
Nominated for 5 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Columbia
Best Director - George Stevens
Best Actress - Jean Arthur
Best Screenplay - Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, and Robert Russell
Best Original Motion Picture Story - Robert Russell and Frank Ross
Plot: An unmarried woman sublets half of her apartment to an eccentric old man who then sublets half of his half to a high type, clean cut, nice young fella.
Distributor: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Top Billed Actors: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Supporting Actor - Charles Coburn
Nominated for 5 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Columbia
Best Director - George Stevens
Best Actress - Jean Arthur
Best Screenplay - Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, and Robert Russell
Best Original Motion Picture Story - Robert Russell and Frank Ross
Plot: An unmarried woman sublets half of her apartment to an eccentric old man who then sublets half of his half to a high type, clean cut, nice young fella.
After an onslaught of war pictures in the recent slate of Academy Award winning and Best Picture nominee films, The More the Merrier (1943) is a welcome relief. Sure, it's set during wartime, but a comedy is a breath of fresh air here and it must have been in 1943. George Stevens and Jean Arthur connect in their second Best Picture nominee in as many years after The Talk of the Town (1942). This is Stevens' first Best Director nomination as well as Arthur's, who would only get the one. As I previously mentioned in the Talk of the Town review, Stevens was Arthur's favorite director due to both of their perfectionist philosophies. Stevens would routinely shoot way more coverage than any other director, much to the studio's chagrin. Shot in 1942, this was Joel Mcrea's fourth film he shot that year. Exhausted, he was slightly exasperated that the role didn't go to a Cary Grant or Gary Cooper type. Coincidentally, Grant would be featured in the remake Walk Don't Run (1966), but in the Charles Coburn role.
Coburn is comical heartbeat of this film. I don't recall his presence in prior films I've seen him in, but he's the standout here. He matches his physical humor with a sharp wit as he finagles his way into renting an apartment and then plays cupid for his landlady. His constant line "damn the torpedoes" is endearing and next time I hesitate in life, I will think of Mr. Dingle. Full steam ahead! I also adore Arthur and her chemistry with McCrea is perfect for this picture. They don't have to be soul mates exactly since they have to feel each other out as roommates first, but they naturally fall in love. The apartment set piece allows for Stevens to work his magic with all of the footage he shot. I especially enjoy the sequences in which we can see both bedrooms separated by the wall. There are some creative shots, especially when Arthur and McCrea are laying side by side. With the layout of the apartment so fully explored in the frantic morning routine scenes, this has to be an iconic cinematic residence - or at least it will be in my book.
Of course, with any comedy with so many unraveling parts, the end of the story can always be a bit sloppy. That goes for this story as there are so many unbelievable or outlandish events to tie it all together. It all fits into the wacky tone that Coburn sets up in the first act, but I still shook my head plenty during the final act. Although I laughed enough in that first act, some of the comedy sequences seemed to go on a bit too long. It made some of them seem like a zany comedy short from the silent era as Coburn continues to lose his pants as he bumbles around the apartment. I'm still on the side of including all of this but it does halt the film every now and then.
Overall, a wartime comedy breaths fresh air among the other wartime films of 1943. Charles Coburn sets the tone as he dominates the first third with plenty of physical comedy and George Stevens utilizes every bit of that apartment. The story of three unmarried people living in close quarters is quite entertaining, but the finish is disorderly.
My Score: 8/10
Coburn is comical heartbeat of this film. I don't recall his presence in prior films I've seen him in, but he's the standout here. He matches his physical humor with a sharp wit as he finagles his way into renting an apartment and then plays cupid for his landlady. His constant line "damn the torpedoes" is endearing and next time I hesitate in life, I will think of Mr. Dingle. Full steam ahead! I also adore Arthur and her chemistry with McCrea is perfect for this picture. They don't have to be soul mates exactly since they have to feel each other out as roommates first, but they naturally fall in love. The apartment set piece allows for Stevens to work his magic with all of the footage he shot. I especially enjoy the sequences in which we can see both bedrooms separated by the wall. There are some creative shots, especially when Arthur and McCrea are laying side by side. With the layout of the apartment so fully explored in the frantic morning routine scenes, this has to be an iconic cinematic residence - or at least it will be in my book.
Of course, with any comedy with so many unraveling parts, the end of the story can always be a bit sloppy. That goes for this story as there are so many unbelievable or outlandish events to tie it all together. It all fits into the wacky tone that Coburn sets up in the first act, but I still shook my head plenty during the final act. Although I laughed enough in that first act, some of the comedy sequences seemed to go on a bit too long. It made some of them seem like a zany comedy short from the silent era as Coburn continues to lose his pants as he bumbles around the apartment. I'm still on the side of including all of this but it does halt the film every now and then.
Overall, a wartime comedy breaths fresh air among the other wartime films of 1943. Charles Coburn sets the tone as he dominates the first third with plenty of physical comedy and George Stevens utilizes every bit of that apartment. The story of three unmarried people living in close quarters is quite entertaining, but the finish is disorderly.
My Score: 8/10