Don't let rich but sweet Frances Dee's easy-going personality fool you; She's a controlling shrew in the making, as seen in the very first scene of this situation comedy like screwball comedy, basically blackmailing boyfriend William Holden into marrying her by trapping him in her tree-house without a ladder to get down. This literal gunshot marriage (with the bride-to-be with her finger on the trigger) has her papa (Grant Mitchell) against the marriage, believing him to be a fortune hunter, but Holden's insistence that they are going to live on a strict budget gets him to change his mind. Of course, living on a budget is easier said than done, and Dee's promises are not going to be honored once she realizes how tough having a budget is.
The marriage is tested instantly budget-wise with Holden and Dee disagreeing on which piece of furniture which took them $50 over budget should go back. Dee does try her best, having a lavish dinner party with both families meeting for the first time (and instantly clashing) and Dee pretending that she made the entire meal even though she got last minute assistance from professional chef Willie Fung. Determined to keep this from her husband, Dee literally hides Fung in the closet, and this leads to a funny but oddly racist scene where Holden discovers him and laughs at the thought that Dee could even have remotely been involved with the effeminate "China man". Later, Holden bristles when Dee hires a part-time housekeeper (Margaret Hamilton) who treats their house like a bull would a china shop. Hamilton's character is far from any of the many maids and housekeepers she's played before, closer in style to Mary Wickes' brand of comedy than her own persona. Her brief appearance is one of the film's highlights.
As for their families, there's Mitchell as the gruff father of the bride and Marjorie Gateson as her regal but gracious mother, Ann Gillis as her boy-crazy and drama queen sister and Danny Mummert as the outspoken youngest. It's funny how actors old enough to be grandparents end up with young children in all these old movies. Anne Revere is Holden's much older sister, a gruff, outspoken spinster school principal who is obviously against the marriage (and gets a few good barbs tossed her way by the very funny Mummert), while the always gentle Mary Gordon offers wisdom and her good-natured humor as Holden and Revere's much more understanding mother. The dinner party where they all come together is the epitome of an evening where everything that can go wrong does, but I must say about the cake that Dee attempts to make that it looks more like plaster of Paris than any unbaked cake mix I've ever seen, sort of an "I Love Lucy" style visual gag utilized a decade before that sitcom went on the air.
The passive/aggressive nature of Dee's character is a bit hard to take at times, and the fact that Holden could not see right through her is also hard to swallow even though he does tell her, "You have a streak of low cunning that absolutely alarms me". As a result of this, there really isn't much chemistry between the two leads although they do look attractive together. This is obviously the type of silly sitcom set-ups, padded out to the length of three episodes, amusing in spots but not always believable and certainly not with one strong plot point to keep it in focus. But with that cast and certain moments that do strike the funny bone, it is definitely seems a lot better than it really is.
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