June Bride (1948)

The publisher (Jerome Cowan) of a woman's magazine forces a writer (Robert Montgomery) on the editor (Bette Davis) of the magazine. The two have a romantic past that didn't end well and she fends off his renewed advances when the two travel to Indiana to do a story on a small town wedding. Based on the play FEATURE FOR JUNE by Eileen Tighe and Graeme Lorimar and directed by Bretaigne Windust, a theatre director (FINIAN'S RAINBOW, STATE OF THE UNION) who only did a handful of films. When one thinks of 1940s romantic comedy, one doesn't think of Bette Davis. Her previous two films, DECEPTION and WINTER MEETING, didn't do well at the box office so Warners thought putting her in a romcom might up her ante and they were right, the movie was a modest hit. But the wit isn't there and Davis looks uncomfortable in the part though to be honest I don't think a Jean Arthur or Rosalind Russell would have made it a better movie. Being a 1940s film, of course Davis tosses her career aside for being a good little wife and following her man around the world while he's doing his job. With Fay Bainter, Barbara Bates, Tom Tully, Betty Lynn, Marjorie Bennett, Mary Wickes (who manages the few laughs available) and in her film debut, an uncredited Debbie Reynolds though you'd be hard pressed to find her.