Currently high on all the yearning and the soft lighting and the one-take conversations and Joel McCrea gently caressing Jean Arthur’s shoulders and Jean Arthur grabbing Joel McCrea’s face when they kiss and "FULL SPEED AHEAD" and Jean Arthur crying away atop a plate of catfish and rice on her wedding day. Movies are wonderful.
Directed by George Stevens
The More the Merrier
An acclaimed, moving comedy.
It's World War II and there is a severe housing shortage everywhere - especially in Washington, D.C. where Connie Milligan rents an apartment. Believing it to be her patriotic duty, Connie offers to sublet half of her apartment, fully expecting a suitable female tenent. What she gets instead is mischievous, middle-aged Benjamin Dingle. Dingle talks her into subletting to him and then promptly sublets half of his half to young, irreverent Joe Carter - creating a situation tailor-made for comedy and romance.
Where to watch
1The More the Merrier is showing in 1 cinema in Los Angeles — next screening Sunday 13 September at 14:30 at Old Town Music Hall.
Sunday, 13 September
Cast & crew
6What people say
Why am I wasting my time watching any film that does not have Jean Arthur in it?A scrumptious sugarpuff of a film in the best possible way: I adored it. Jean Arthur is absolute magic. She has such a talent for comedy, both physically and in her delivery, and I love everything about her. She looks so cute here, too - in her work outfits, in her stripey pyjamas, and that supercute playsuit when she's up on the roof! It is really well-written and there were so many funny/lovely moments in this that I lost track of them all (I was trying to keep tabs to write about later). The three leads are just wonderful together, and the scene between Arthur and the gorgeous McCrea on the stoop is spine tingling-ly erotic. McCrea struck me as incredibly modern in his delivery in general and he wouldn't look out of place in a film made today. Perfect feelgood film for the start of the post-Christmas slump. Which for me lasts until May. So I might just put this on a loop until then.
jean arthur playing a character who is engaged to an older forty year old man when she was in fact forty three at the time is such a power move. also how did that front stoop scene pass the production code?? it had me Sweating oh my god.
What is The More the Merrier about?+
During the World War II housing shortage in Washington, D.C., a woman finds her life disrupted when she is convinced to sublet her apartment to two different men.
Who directed The More the Merrier?+
It was directed by George Stevens, a prolific filmmaker whose career spanned from early silents to grand-scale dramas.
Has The More the Merrier won any awards?+
Charles Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, which also received five additional Oscar nominations.














