Without Reservations

Claudette Colbert and John Wayne star in this lightweight comedy about an authoress who may not know enough about men to write about them. Her first book is a smash hit, but John Wayne scrutinizes it a bit, when he meets Claudette, not knowing she wrote it. He and his pal Don DeFore make a nice pair of guys to hang out with, and he and Claudette have good chemistry and repartee, but somehow the last 30 minutes goes off course and keeps this from being a very fulfilling movie experience. They're all good company and they have quite a few madcap escapades together, but things just don't fall into place as they should and the film tends to wander and go on too long. But if you get a chance to see Without Reservations, it's enjoyable and undemanding entertainment for almost two hours.

If you know John Wayne films it's not surprising that He could be humorous, even in his heroic roles that He usually portrayed. This film is amusing and the characters are appealing. It's good for a viewing every few years or so. The only problem is a that John Wayne is about 10 years too old for this role. Born in 1906, in 1946, when this film was released, He was about 40 years old. The reason that He wasn't actually in the military during WWII was that He was a little too old. Before His breakout success in "Stagecoach" Wayne spent nearly 10 years cranking out B-Westerns. For the remainder of His career He was almost always a little too old for His character, which was especially evident as He got older. Until his last few films, He was still playing the hero roles that got the girl in the end. I 've always wished that He had played more age appropriate character roles once he was in his 60s. It's only a small gripe, and He does well in this lite comedy.

Here's an interesting piece of movie trivia for you. What special significance has Claudette Colbert as a leading lady for John Wayne? Answer; she's the last player male or female to be billed above John Wayne in any film. Other than in cameo or guest appearances, the Duke took top billing in every single film he made after Without Reservations.

But I suppose it is just that Claudette take top billing here because in many ways this bears a lot similarity to her Oscar winning role in It Happened One Night. Only oddly enough she's really in the Clark Gable part.

If you remember Gable was the newspaperman down on his luck who spots runaway heiress Colbert in Florida and sticks to her to get the big exclusive story when she's found. Here it's Colbert doing the sticking to Wayne.

Colbert plays Christopher Madden an author who has written a big post World War II best seller. It's getting as much attention as Gone With the Wind back in the day. She's taking a transcontinental train trip to Hollywood where Cary Grant and Lana Turner are scheduled to star in a film adaption of her book. Grant pulls out at the last minute and while boarding the train trip Colbert catches sight of John Wayne in Marine uniform and thinks he should be the unknown who plays the hero of her book.

Wayne may look the part, but he's got views distinctly different from what Colbert wrote in her novel. Circumstances however force the both of them with Wayne's pal Don DeFore to leave the train in Chicago and they have to make their way west just as Gable and Colbert had to make their way north in It Happened One Night.

Oh, and Wayne and DeFore do not know their companion is a celebrity author in the same Colbert did not know Gable was a newspaperman and on to her identity.

Without Reservations is a nice comedy, the last one that Wayne would do in modern times. Comedies that he later did like North to Alaska, Donovan's Reef and McLintock had considerably less sophistication than this one did.

Still like McLintock, Wayne gets to expound on some of his personal philosophy of rugged individualism as being what made America great. In response to the liberal hero of Colbert's book, Wayne has a very eloquent scene in talking about our pioneer heritage about people with all that was against them in a savage wilderness, just being grateful for the opportunity to make it on their own. Without Reservations may in fact be the first film where some of his own personal philosophy gets written into it.

Stealing every scene she's in is Anne Triola who is one of the people the trio meets on the train and later Wayne and DeFore find being a waitress in San Diego. She had such a limited film career, this should have been a breakthrough role for her.

Louella Parsons, Cary Grant, Jack Benny, and Dolores Moran have some brief walk-ons playing themselves. Without Reservations marks the only film any of them ever did with John Wayne. I only wish Cary's bit had been in a scene with Wayne.

These kinds of comedy are what made Claudette Colbert's career. But it was nice to see John Wayne doing one as well. Though some fans of the Duke might regret he does not throw a punch or fire a weapon in this at all.

"Without Reservations" is a cute but canned knock-off of "It Happened One Night" (also with Colbert) -- a road picture pitting the sexes against each other and then against the elements of a screwball universe. Though very flimsy in plot structure, Colbert and Wayne end up as interesting foils. Colbert puts out with her usual impeccable timing, urbane wit and unique, feminine charm. It strikes one that Wayne is not left behind in her proverbial comedic dust, a testament to the plain fact that he was actually a fine actor masquerading as a big lug, and moreover capable of playing comedy.

For any fellow "reactionaries" there is some good dialogue delivered by Wayne against Progressivism and in favor of freedom, which, except for its brevity, might as well have been lifted directly from a James Edward Grant script. Unfortunately these ideas (symbolized by the Wayne character) are categorized as the non-thinking position, but nonetheless they are involved in the overall plot resolution.

In all, the film means well but doesn't deliver, and the actors take in the slack where possible.

Cute comedy about a novelist (Claudette Colbert) who meets a soldier (John Wayne) and realizes she loves him. There's more to it than that, but that's the bare bones of the plot. The movie moves quickly, is VERY funny and who knew John Wayne could do comedy so well? Colbert beautiful and charming (as always). There's also a few appearances from stars of that era. Bright, breezy...well worth seeing.