Bride by Mistake

Laraine Day is so rich that her fiance walks out on her he can't stand living in a goldfish bowl. When she falls for pilot Alan Marshall (who gives a performance suggesting that Errol Flynn was intended for the role), she switches roles with Marsha Hunt, who is her public-appearance double.

The Richest Girl In The World is given a remake and a slight update to reflect wartime conditions. Tycoon Laraine Day with her trusty Noah Dietrich type Edgar Buchanan is busy dedicating a new Liberty ship from one of her yards.

After Norman Krasna's Oscar-winning script for Princess O'Rourke turned into a box-office hit for Warners in 1943, RKO rehashed his similar rich-girl-masquerading-as-poor-girl story "Richest Girl in the World" for this film in 1944. The result is mixed, but Day is so lovely, supporting cast is lively, that it makes for a pleasant hour and a half.

As it should or could have been.I really enjoy watching lovely Laraine Day and bought this movie basically because she's in it.

Laraine Day stars with Alan Marshal, Marsha Hunt, and Allyn Joslyn in "Bride by Mistake," from 1944. This is a rehash of "The Richest Girl in the World" and maybe a few other films.

Soon after this film began, I had remembered seeing this story before in the form of "The Richest Girl in the World" with Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea. Aside from a few updates here and there (such as making the leading man an Army Air Corps flier recuperating from some unnamed illness or injury), the story is the same.

This is cinematic proof that fast moving action and sarcastic dialog does not make for a good comedy. In this case, it's the story of mistaken identity that may have seemed funny on paper, but is dull on screen.

"Bride by Mistake", while having the pedigree of a story by Norman Krasna, and an updated (to wartime) screenplay by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, is ultimately light-hearted romantic fluff, a 'B' feature that wartime audiences loved, but seems quaint and dated, today. This isn't a put-down of the film; I enjoyed it, and star Laraine Day has a timeless, fresh-scrubbed beauty that can still win hearts, in our more jaded times, but don't expect it to be released on DVD anytime in the near future...

There certainly weren't any surprises in this fun movie, and you could practically predict the plot all the way through. Then bring in the absolutely gorgeous Laraine Day and the movie really has some energy in it.