Make Your Own Bed

Entitled rich businessman Walter Whirtle (Alan Hale) and his wife Vivian (Irene Manning) can't keep any workers at his estate. He gets arrested arguing a parking ticket. He meets private investigator Jerry Curtis (Jack Carson) in jail. Curtis had tried to arrest the district attorney and is marrying his secretary Susan Courtney (Jane Wyman). Whirtle has a crazy case for him and his 'wife'.

This is marginally funny. It tries to be wacky. The story is non-sensical. I don't know much about Jack Carson. He has an easiness about him and a nice report with Wyman. I like their chemistry together. The story is somewhat stupid and fulfills a wartime need. The slapstick is clunky at times. I do like the duo and their incompetent work. The rest is a muddle.

Exactly the sort of breezy, silly movie I love to watch when I just don't want to think about worries, problems - anything!! Jack Carson is hilarious!

Exhibit A that the screwball comedy was still alive in 1944. Maybe not exactly well, but energetically kicking. Jack Carter's dynamism and Jane Wyman's comic versatility keep one involved in this fast-paced romp, even though the plot is nearly incoherent.

The framing device is a wealthy December-May couple, delightfully played by Alan Hale & Irene Manning, desperate to obtain household help for their country estate. Throw in Jack Carter as an incompetent & feckless would-be detective, stringing along his quizzical fiancée Jane Wyman.

Carter & Wyman's bumbling as butler and cook are hilarious, underscored by Manning as their ditzy boss.

A comical, but not exactly comical development involving Nazi spies--or are they?--gets hopelessly garbled. A strange plot device in 1944. Yet the charm of the principal actors makes for an entertaining time.

Due to the ongoing World War II, wealthy executive Alan Hale (as Walter Whirtle) is having a difficult time finding servants. With no chauffeur, he drives to town recklessly, and is thrown in jail. There, Mr. Hale meets private detective Jack Carson (as Gerald "Jerry" Curtis), who bungled his latest case by arresting the district attorney. Hale tells Mr. Carson he can look for Nazis on his estate, while posing as a butler. Carson agrees to assume the position, and brings along long-time fiancée Jane Wyman (as Susan Courtney) to serve as cook. Carson has trouble recognizing the Nazis, and Ms. Wyman can't cook a shaved duck.

"Make Your Own Bed" refers to the fact that Carson and Wyman have a long-time, but platonic relationship; and, things get uncomfortably funny for the pair while posing as husband and wife. They handle the matter with immature comedy. The cast and crew might have considered adapting this material a chore. Still, everyone puts in an effort. And, Hale excels.

***** Make Your Own Bed (5/26/44) Peter Godfrey ~ Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, Alan Hale, Irene Manning

In those WW2 days of 1944 Alan Hale and Irene Manning are having trouble keeping their help. Jack Carson.is a detective who can't detect., but he needs a job. He and girl friend Jane Wyman go to work for Hale as butler and cook to find the nasty Nazi spies who are threatening Hale's munitions plant.

Carson and Wyman are as bad as domestics as Carson is a detective. Somehow through divine intervention he does detect Nazis. With an accent like Kurt Katch has it would be hard not to.

Carwon and Wyman are funny, but sadly Make Your Own Bed is one very dated WW2 era comedy.