The More the Merrier (1943)

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Robert Russell (story) and
Frank Ross (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 October 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

"Sharing my bath and kitchen with two men...That drove me nuts!" (original Insert Card)

Plot:

During the WW2 housing shortage in Washington, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Housing Shortage | Washington D.C. | Elderly | Schedule

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Feb. 14

12:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Jean Arthur	...	Constance 'Connie' Milligan
Joel McCrea	...	Joe Carter
Charles Coburn	...	Benjamin Dingle
Richard Gaines	...	Charles J. Pendergast
Bruce Bennett	...	FBI Agent Evans
Frank Sully	...	FBI Agent Pike
Clyde Fillmore	...	Sen. Noonan
Stanley Clements	...	Morton Rodakiewicz
Jean Stevens	...	Dancer (as Peggy Carroll)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Ash	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
Don Barclay	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Betzi Beaton	...	Miss Finch (uncredited)
Hank Bell	...	Singing Man on Apartment Stairway (uncredited)
Gladys Blake	...	Barmaid (uncredited)
Jack Carr	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Chester Clute	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Lew Davis	...	Man Entering Elevator (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Miss Bilby (uncredited)
Donald Douglas	...	FBI Agent Harding (uncredited)
Sugar Geise	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Hal Gerard	...	Second Statistician (uncredited)
Nancy Gray	...	Miss Chasen (uncredited)
Harrison Greene	...	Texan / Apartment Seeker (uncredited)
Robert F. Hill	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Helen Holmes	...	Dumpy Woman (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Man Leaving Elevator (uncredited)
Frank LaRue	...	Senator in Taxi (uncredited)
Kay Linaker	...	Miss Allen (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Singing Man on Apartment Stairway (uncredited)
Betty McMahon	...	Miss Geeskin (uncredited)
Shirley Patterson	...	Girl (uncredited)
Lon Poff	...	Sleeper (uncredited)
Hal Price	...	Bathing Man (uncredited)
Henry Roquemore	...	Washington Sun Reporter (uncredited)
Marshall Ruth	...	Fat Statistician (uncredited)
Ann Savage	...	Miss Dalton (uncredited)
Byron Shores	...	Air Corps Maj. Denton (uncredited)
Grady Sutton	...	Diner Counterman (uncredited)
David Ward	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Douglas Wood	...	Senator in Taxi (uncredited)

Directed by
George Stevens

Writing credits
Robert Russell		(story) and
Frank Ross		(story)
Robert Russell		(screenplay) &
Frank Ross		(screenplay) and
Richard Flournoy		(screenplay) &
Lewis R. Foster		(screenplay)
Garson Kanin		uncredited

Produced by
Fred Guiol	....	associate producer
George Stevens	....	producer

Original Music by
Leigh Harline

Cinematography by
Ted Tetzlaff

Film Editing by
Otto Meyer

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks
Rudolph Sternad

Set Decoration by
Fay Babcock

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Budd Boetticher	....	assistant director
Norman Deming	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Lodge Cunningham	....	sound

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1943) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Argentina (1943) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Chile (1943) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures do Brasil (1943) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures de Cuba (1943) (Cuba) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films S. A. (1943) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Christiaan van der Ree (1943) (Venezuela) (theatrical)
• Medal Fim Exchange (1943) (Puerto Rico) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Proprietary (1943) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Panama (1943) (Panama) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Merry-Go-Round (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 (1949) | Sweden:Btl (1949) | USA:Approved

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Final film of Helen Holmes.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Connie mentions to Dingle that she can provide him a ride downtown, stating her regular routine being that she is the first person to be picked up by her ride, and after her there are three other passengers to be picked up. However when her ride arrives, there are already two passengers in the car (in addition to the driver) and the car is only a four-seater.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Our vagabond camera takes us to beautiful Washington, D.C., the national capital of our United States, situated on the broad banks of the Potomac River. Living is pleasant and leisurely... for it is a city of formality and custom. Manners and courtesy are responsible for the well-ordered conduct of its daily affairs...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Torpedo Song

Comic masterpiece!

Easily the best film that I've ever seen from George Stevens (and I really like several of his other films). Jean Arthur stars as a woman renting out half of her apartment because of a housing shortage in Washington D.C. Charles Coburn, who is in Washington to help solve the crisis, weasles his way into the apartment even though Arthur didn't want a male roommate. The morning after, Joel McCrea arrives with yesterday's newspaper, not knowing that the vacancy exists no more. No matter, though. Coburn rents half of his half of the apartment to McCrea, unbeknownst to Arthur. God knows this premise could have made one hell of a sitcom, but it also makes a damn funny movie. There isn't an unfunny scene in the entire film, and several scenes vie for the title of Best Romantic Comedy of all times with Preston Sturges' contemporaneous films. The three performers are remarkable. They have great chemistry as a comic trio, and McCrea and Arthur throw sparks off the screen with their surprisingly erotic romance. I failed to mention that Arthur is engaged to an older man, adding to the dilemma. Richard Gaines is also excellent as that fiancé. I love the way his mouth moves. Grady Sutton has a very funny cameo near the end of the film as a waiter. Stevens' direction is exceptional. It's shocking how believably he pulls off the scene in which McCrea and Arthur wander around the apartment without bumping into each other. This is reminiscent of a famous scene from Buster Keaton's The Navigator, and it's even funnier. Or that intimate scene where McCrea gives a carrying case to Jean Arthur. Their acting is so subtly romantic in that scene. I love the way Stevens films it. 10/10.