Wordiezett So much average

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

jjnxn-1 It's a battle of the sexes 50's style with the expected outcome but Bette Davis shows her light side ably supported by a stellar cast. Since comedy wasn't Bette's long suit Warners filled out the cast with some of the premier light comic actors in the business. Robert Montgomery is ideally cast in the sort of facile smart alack that was his signature in his MGM days. He and Bette have a sand-papery chemistry that works fine but it seems that she might have had more rapport with Cary Grant or Clark Gable, two other masters of this kind of breezy fare. She had actually requested either Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan to costar but both were tied up with other commitments, Morgan might have been a stretch but the part would have fit the great Carson like a glove. Surrounding them are two unique masters of the wry line reading-Fay Bainter and Mary Wickes. They add enormously to the film as do Tom Tully, as the bride's flummoxed father, James Burke as a photographer very fond of cheesecake snapshots and especially Betty Lynn in a scene stealing performance as mischief making younger sister Boo. She is an impish delight and handily takes scenes away from her more experienced cast mates. You have to keep an eagle eye out but during the pre-wedding scene Debbie Reynolds makes her wordless screen bow sitting on a sofa. Blink and you'll miss her.Spoiled somewhat by a cop out traditional ending that negates a great deal of what has come before but until that point this is a highly entertaining movie from Bette's late Warner Bros. period. Indeed in the dark days of Winter Meeting and Beyond the Forest this gives Miss Davis a breather to show off her new look hairdo and wardrobe in a slight but fun movie.

lulu19143 I found this film quite interesting, especially given the current mania for home makeover shows on TV. Bette Davis plays a magazine editor who, for each monthly issue, completes a home makeover for one lucky family. For the June issue, she will make over a family home in Indiana for their daughter's wedding. The catch - her writer is a new hire and a former lover, played by Robert Montgomery. Looking for a "scoop," he uncovers the real romance his goal-oriented editor misses. There's a wedding alright, but not necessarily the one that was planned...Despite an odd pairing of Bette Davis and Robert Montgomery (which still sort of worked for me somehow) and a very disappointingly engineered ending, I quite enjoyed this film, especially Bette Davis' portrayal of the middle aged career woman.

Doghouse-6 Davis had devastatingly funny moments in All About Eve and (in a sick kind of way) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, but her opportunities to do the kind of romantic comedy that stars such as Irene Dunne or Rosiland Russell made such a staple of their careers in the '30s and '40s were few. The deft and mostly delightful JUNE BRIDE was such an opportunity, and Bette is up to the task.The picture is a sort of working-class Philadelphia Story, with Davis as the all-business (but dryly witty) editor of a women's magazine who, with entourage in tow, invades and takes over the home of an Indiana family for a feature story on a typical American June bride....in the dead of winter (lead time, you know). Along for the ride is Davis' erstwhile sweetie, Robert Montgomery (father of Elizabeth), a foreign correspondent between assignments who's tapped by their publisher to punch up the story's copy, providing him the perfect opportunity for an attempt at rekindling his and Davis' failed relationship.This is the kind of role Montgomery did best: a cynical sophisticate with a hint of mischievous boy under the surface, and he and Davis work together smoothly. It's said she could be a tyrant on the set, but one thing Davis always deserved credit for was knowing when to relinquish the spotlight to other players. Those in doubt should consult The Man Who Came To Dinner or The Great Lie for proof. JUNE BRIDE is really Montgomery's picture more than anyone else's, and Bette graciously lets him walk away with it much of the time. Lending able support are familiar faces such as Fay Bainter, Tom Tully (who has some wonderful moments involving a problem with his wife's bust....of Caesar) and Mary Wickes (always in the right place at the right time for an acerbic remark).Davis seems right at home behind the desk in her chic (pronounced "chick" by the Indiana family) tailored suits, filling the shoes usually inhabited by someone like the aforementioned Russell. Released a couple of years before All About Eve, JUNE BRIDE is something of a thematic precursor to that film, inasmuch as a good deal of the plot hinges on the conflict between work and love for two professionals, delivered here in the tried and true romantic battle-of-the-sexes formula.Herein lies JUNE BRIDE's most glaring - I hate to say flaw, since it's the fault not of the picture so much as the era in which it was made - let's say jarring note: an ultimately sexist viewpoint. This is an element that wouldn't have slapped viewers in the face in 1948 as it does today - at least not as hard - and it rears its ugly head only toward the film's end; an unfortunate place for it, as we're left with this bit of "attitude" after it's over. One just has to shrug, and recall that this was the postwar era, when even the U.S. government threw in its two cents by producing little "public service" films encouraging women to give up the jobs they had held during the war because, well, the boys were home, they needed work and it was high time American Womanhood was back in the kitchen (I kid you not).This bitter little pill is easily overlooked under all that sweet candy coating, so JUNE BRIDE is an enjoyable confection, and a quite amusing way to spend an hour and a half. It's a shame Davis didn't do more like it.

jxm4687 Fitfully amusing for the cast, especially the supporting characters, but the dated material is done in by a weak script. The Davis-Montgomery relationship is core of the film. The chemistry shows promise at the outset, but has really evaporated by the film's end. Davis is watchable, although her performance is variable; Montgomery gets more annoying as things progress and is particularly done in by the strained plotline. Here is an actor who has more mannerisms than Bette Davis (and they don't serve the picture as well). The ending probably annoyed audiences even back in 1948--it certainly doesn't play well in 2003! One wonders what went through Bette Davis's mind during the final scene, considering that this movie was made at time when she was having her famous contract feuds with the Warner Brothers. Was Jack Warner getting back at her?