Without Reservations ** (1946, Claudette Colbert, John Wayne) – Classic Movie Review 12,170

Director Mervyn LeRoy’s 1946 RKO Radio Pictures comedy Without Reservations stars Claudette Colbert and John Wayne, and is based on the novel Thanks, God! I’ll Take It From Here by Jane Allen and Mae Livingston.

Claudette Colbert plays Hollywood-bound novelist Christopher ‘Kit’ Madden, who believes that Captain Rusty Thomas (John Wayne), a hunk of a US Marine, would be perfect casting for the film of her book – though she falls off a haystack laughing when he tries to be romantic in the moonlight.

Without Reservations is a reasonable, if derivative comedy, with two well-cast, nicely paired, appealing stars giving pleasantly laid-back performances plus some fine character actor work and cameos by Hollywood notables (Louella Parsons, Jack Benny, Dolores Moran, Raymond Burr and Cary Grant, along with director Mervyn LeRoy).

Also in the cast are Don DeFore, Phil Brown, Frank Puglia, Dona Drake, Thurston Hall, Anne Triola, Charles Arnt, Charles Evans, Harry Hayden, Houseley Stevenson, Ian Wolfe, Minerva Urecal, Oscar O’Shea, and Ruth Roman.

Without Reservations is directed by Mervyn LeRoy, runs 107 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Andrew Solt, based on the novel Thanks, God! I’ll Take It From Here by Jane Allen and Mae Livingston, is shot in black and white by Milton R Krasner, is produced by Jesse L Lasky Jr and Walter MacEwen, and is scored by Roy Webb.

The Arrowhead Pictures movie studio in the opening shot is the RKO Radio Pictures building at 780 Gower Street, Hollywood.

It was popular. On an estimated cost of $1,683,000, it took $3,000,000 in US cinema rentals.

the cast are Claudette Colbert as Christopher ‘Kit’ Madden, John Wayne as Captain Rusty Thomas, Don DeFore as 1st Lt. “Dink” Watson, Anne Triola as Consuela “Connie” Callaghan, Phil Brown as soldier, Frank Puglia as Ortega, Thurston Hall as Henry Baldwin, Dona Drake as Dolores Ortega, Fernando Alvarado as Mexican boy, Charles Arnt as salesman, Frank Wilcox as Jack, Sam McDaniel as Freddy, Lisa Golm as Alma, Charles Evans, Harry Hayden, Houseley Stevenson, Ian Wolfe, Minerva Urecal, Oscar O’Shea, Ruth Roman, Louella Parsons, Jack Benny, Dolores Moran, Raymond Burr, Cary Grant, and Mervyn LeRoy.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,170

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