''The Bride Goes Wild'' is a 1948 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Norman Taurog Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...

. Van Johnson stars as irresponsible children's book author and part-time playboy Uncle Bumps, who is introduced to a no-nonsense children's book illustrator played by June Allyson.

Cast

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...

as Greg Rawlings * June Allyson as Martha Terryton * Butch Jenkins as Danny *

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

as John McGrath *

Una Merkel Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...

as Miss Doberly *

Arlene Dahl Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. She was also an author and entrepreneur. Sh ...

as Tillie Smith *

Richard Derr Richard Derr (June 15, 1917 – May 8, 1992) was an American actor who worked on stage, screen, and television, performing in both starring and supporting roles. Early years Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Derr graduated from Norristown High ...

as Bruce Kope Johnson *

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

as "Pop" *

Elisabeth Risdon Elisabeth Risdon (born Daisy Cartwright Risdon; 26 April 1887 – 20 December 1958) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1913 and 1952. A beauty in her youth, she usually played in society parts. In later ...

as Mrs. Carruthers *

Clara Blandick Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress. She played Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, sh ...

as Aunt Pewtie *

Kathleen Howard Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884 – April 15, 1956) was a Canadian-born American opera singer, magazine editor, and character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. Biography Howard was born in Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Cana ...

as Aunt Susan *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...

as Max (uncredited) * Hank Mann as Wedding Guest (uncredited) * William Severn as Piute Leader (uncredited)

Reception

The film earned $2,707,000 in the US and Canada and $1,059,000 elsewhere. On June 4, 1948, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'''

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote: “For a movie with as inauspicious a title as ''The Bride Goes Wild…'' this patchwork of sentiment and slapstick is a surprisingly genial little show. And if you'll take it as nonsense entertainment, it will give you a pretty good time. In the first place, that title means nothing—absolutely nothing at all. More appropriate to the evident activities would be ''The Picture Goes Wild''. For the most salient aspect of the story is its positive progression from a point of comparative intelligence at the beginning to reckless disorder at the end.” Josephine O'Neill praised the film in her July 18, 1949, review in the ''Daily Telegraph'': “MGM's moonstruck pair, Van Johnson and June Allyson, become surprisingly engaging comedians in this frivolous comedy. They have the fillip of an original story… Norman Taurog, who knows his comedy and his kids, lays on the laughter freely. Sometimes his slapstick is enormously successful — as when the orphanage kids submit Van and his harassed publisher (Hume Cronyn) to an Indian raid. Sometimes, as in the ants-at-the-wedding, it is Mack Sennett. The result is generally fetching, with livelier dialogue than usual; and one of the prettiest tipsy scenes from Miss Allyson that you could imagine. To sum up: Enjoyment.

Legacy

''The Bride Goes Wild'' was presented on the '' Stars in the Air'' radio program on February 28, 1952. Dick Powell and June Allyson starred in the 30-minute adaptation.

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

presented ''The Bride Goes Wild'' on October 7, 2015 in commemoration of what would have been Allyson's 98th birthday.

References

External links

*
Turner Classic Movies page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bride Goes Wild 1948 films 1948 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films about writers Films directed by Norman Taurog Films set in New York (state) Films set in Vermont Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1940s American films