The Groom Wore Spurs

It's kind of hard to believe that Ginger Rogers could possibly have been interested in Jack Carson. This film could have been a whole lot better with Lucille Ball or even Joan Davis who plays Ginger's roommate and confidante in the title role.

The Groom With Spurs casts Ginger as a lawyer and daughter of a famous man of the bar who is just starting to make a name for herself. Until she gets Jack Carson as a client and then she winds up marrying him.

Carson is his usual bloviating blowhard self and he plays a movie cowboy who does little on the screen but mouth dialog. He's got a big gambling debt to Stanley Ridges over in Nevada where it's legal and therefore one can sue. So he hires Rogers as an attorney and winds up marrying her.

For Carson this is a perfect role. And Ginger tries to mold him to be more like the screen image she and rest of a America know. It's not going to be easy, but he gets an opportunity in real life to show what he's made of.

All I can say is those films he did do give him some indication of what a hero is supposed to be.

To be a classic this needed a classic comedienne. Ginger is all right in the part, but what Lucille Ball could have done.

Ben Castle (Jack Carson) is a big-time cowboy...much like Roy Rogers or Gene Autry. But he's also a complete phony. He hates horses, doesn't do his own singing and relies on stuntmen to do most of his tricks. And, he also seems really, really dumb...so dumb he's gotten himself into a deep hole due to his gambling. So he contacts a lawyer for help and A.J. Furnival happens to be a lady (Ginger Rogers). Soon, she's doing a great job with Castle...and Castle, out of no where, proposes to her. And, in a whirlwind romance, they marry. But soon it becomes obvious that Castle just isn't good husband material and A.J. regrets her decision. In the midst of this, out of the blue, comes a murder...and Castle is set up to take the fall! Can A.J. once again help her stupid hubby? And, can they actually make a go of their crazy marriage?

Often this film straddles the line between dopey and clever....and it doesn't always do this well (such as the pregnancy scene late in the film). While it's very watchable, it's also not exactly subtle or sophisticated....and the ending sequence with the plane was just terrible.

Ben Castle is a Hollywood sensation as a singing cowboy, with his horse Pancho. But Ben can't sing, draw a gun or ride a horse. Heck - he even needs a step-ladder to get on Pancho! Ben seems to have bad luck gambling too, as he owes a $60,000 debt to Las Vegas gambler Harry Kallen. Hoping to find a way to settle the debt, he hires a lawyer - 'A.J.' Furnival, played by Ginger Rogers.

Ben and A.J. fly to Vegas to try to settle the matter. In just a few hours, Ben and A.J. get married. As a wedding present, Harry says the debt is forgiven. After that, we're treated with the ups and down of life married to a big-time celebrity. Things take a drastic change when an unexpected event changes everything.

A little comic relief is provided by Ben's house-boy, Ignacio, played by Victor Sen Yung. What we get from Ignacio is your stereotypical Chinese man for the time. By today's standards, some people might find this - and one scene in particular - very offensive. But back in the early 50's, it was considered funny.

The Groom Wore Spurs is a decent light, breezy sort of romantic comedy that Hollywood used to crank out all the time. What makes it special - for me at least - is the joy of being able to watch Ginger Rogers!Fans of her will really enjoy this movie and they made sure to have a scene where we get to look at Ginger's legs in high heels. Now isn't that reason enough to watch the movie? For me it is!

Ginger Togets was entering a dangerous age for a star.So presumably she was having to accept everything that was offered.She and Carson have no chemistry whatsoever in this mirthless film.Carson resorts to too much mugging to overcome the lack of laughter.

The Groom Wore Spurs is an Incredibly muddled film. Ginger Rogers stars as attorney Abigail Furnival, whose been assigned to a famous cowboy film actor Ben Castle(Jack Carson). Whose found himself in debt to a mob boss. Over the course of the case she begins to fall in love with him. The film has some structural problems, it goes from starting out as a mob film, then quickly changes Into a romantic comedy, then delves into slapstick, and finally back Into a mob film. These changes aren't seamless and feel jarring when the film switches between tones.

Both the screenplay and direction are uninspired and feels like the film was made on the whim of an Idea. Thankfully the shining part of the film is the acting and chemistry between Rogers and Carson. They are both charming and extremely likable and they play off each other with great sincerity. Their chemistry kept me engaged enough to see how the film played out.

Overall the film is fairly average, it's bringing nothing original to the table. the camera-work and cinematography are both passable. There's no real standout moment in the film which felt like the result of It's messy screenplay and structure. However it's a film worth watching once just for the two engaging performances between Rogers and Carson.