La novia prohibida

Typical 1950's Hollywood production. Costumes are not period, zippers, high heeled pumps and pony tails were not part of the 1850's. The men wear dinner jackets with bow ties and everyone's outfit is sparkling clean and starched, despite the fact that they have been working all day plowing, washing and cleaning. Penciled in eyebrows, eyeliner and lipstick a hundred years too early. Betty Grable still looks like a a pin up girl, and Dale Robertson has a pompadour hair style, also why are they using southern accents in Rome NY? This movie is cute but not Betty Grable's best picture by far. Lovely 1950's period piece in long skirts.

It's easygoing, middle-of-the-road entertainment so no point taking it too serious or being critical. I happen to like Betty Grable films and this one is a lovely setting for her to shine in, a very photogenic lady.

Dale Robertson, as Daniel, is the farmer who finds work on the canal to pay his way so he can join a ladylove and settle down to farming in future, but plans don't always work out as intended. I feel it's a lesser role for Dale compared to other movies of his I've seen such as Golden Girl (1951) which was a very good role for him to star in.

Thelma Ritter too is a favorite of mine and here she plays the rich widow, Lucy Cashdollar, who plans on having a husband No. 6. She's beautifully dressed in all scenes, more so than I've ever seen her in other films, which of course fits her role here.

There's the usual barroom mêlées or free-for-all fights, songs sung by the lead characters, and romance where as they say, Love always finds a way. It's just charming entertainment meant for a pleasant Saturday afternoon, and is a video I like to have for cheering up when needed.

A career-killing movie for Betty Grable, who is wasted, along with everyone except Eddie Foy Jr. in this prettified musical version of the movie that made Henry Fonda a star. Dale Robertson plays the farmer, who is a moron, Thelma Ritter is wasted and some fake-looking scenery still leaves one mystified at how people can live in riverfront saloons and on farms and know nothing at all of the facts of life or the baser side of human nature -- it must be those perfectly maintained canal boats with red-striped awnings they travel in. The songs are also pretty poor, including an ode to Schenectady that did not make Rodgers and Hammerstein jealous.

While none of Gable's starring musicals are likely to make any top-100 lists, most of them have fairly good musical numbers and enough plot and comedy relief to get you from one standard to the next. This one doesn't.

"The Farmer Takes a Wife" is a charming, forgettable piece of fluff of the "Boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl back" school of film musical. Fox musicals were almost always rather forgettable, with their insipid songs and frequently bad singing. However, they were also bright and colorful, since Fox used Technicolor longer and more frequently than the "Tiffany" studio, MGM. "The Farmer Takes a Wife" is especially charming in costume, art and set decoration.

Betty Grable is, well, Betty Grable, and if you adore her (and I do), you're likely to adore "The Farmer Takes a Wife". Betty's ably supported by Dale Robertson, John Carroll, Eddie Foy, Jr. and, the always wonderful Thelma Ritter. I won't pretend it's a great movie, or even a good movie, but "The Farmer Takes a Wife" is a "Betty Grable" movie, and that's good enough for me. I give "The Farmer Takes a Wife" a "6".

The one thing you'll no doubt notice when this film begins is that Betty is clearly older. She's 37 and playing a part designed for a teenager or perhaps a woman of 20...plus she simply looks older than 37. She also apparently had far less clout by 1953, as she was cast along with Dale Robertson--not exactly a household name. RObertson wasn't bad in the film, mind you...but he was a big comedown from folks like Don Ameche or Victor Mature in the 30s or 40s. Studio veterans John Carroll and Thelma Ritter are on hand to lend support. This loss in popularity also might help to explain why the once big star was forced to do a remake of a completely unremarkable film. The 1935 version was only fair and here almost two decades later it's essentially the same film but with music and Technicolor. This remake is certainly no better due to the miscasting of Grable, a few very unremarkable songs and a plot that just seemed to drag. Not a bad film but one that clearly showed that Grable's days as a star were nearly passed. Watch it if you'd like but it's only a time- passer and nothing more.