Make Your Own Bed (1944) User Reviews

If You Don't ???

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 31 October 2010]

Due to the ongoing World War II, wealthy executive Alan Hale (as Walter Whirtle) is having a difficult time finding servants. With no chauffeur, he drives to town recklessly, and is thrown in jail. There, Mr. Hale meets private detective Jack Carson (as Gerald "Jerry" Curtis), who bungled his latest case by arresting the district attorney. Hale tells Mr. Carson he can look for Nazis on his estate, while posing as a butler. Carson agrees to assume the position, and brings along long-time fiancée Jane Wyman (as Susan Courtney) to serve as cook. Carson has trouble recognizing the Nazis, and Ms. Wyman can't cook a shaved duck.

"Make Your Own Bed" refers to the fact that Carson and Wyman have a long-time, but platonic relationship; and, things get uncomfortably funny for the pair while posing as husband and wife. They handle the matter with immature comedy. The cast and crew might have considered adapting this material a chore. Still, everyone puts in an effort. And, Hale excels.

***** Make Your Own Bed (5/26/44) Peter Godfrey ~ Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, Alan Hale, Irene Manning

Zany screwball comedy

[LIND77777-1 · 5/10 · 5 January 2010]

Exhibit A that the screwball comedy was still alive in 1944. Maybe not exactly well, but energetically kicking. Jack Carter's dynamism and Jane Wyman's comic versatility keep one involved in this fast-paced romp, even though the plot is nearly incoherent.

The framing device is a wealthy December-May couple, delightfully played by Alan Hale & Irene Manning, desperate to obtain household help for their country estate. Throw in Jack Carter as an incompetent & feckless would-be detective, stringing along his quizzical fiancée Jane Wyman.

Carter & Wyman's bumbling as butler and cook are hilarious, underscored by Manning as their ditzy boss.

A comical, but not exactly comical development involving Nazi spies--or are they?--gets hopelessly garbled. A strange plot device in 1944. Yet the charm of the principal actors makes for an entertaining time.

nice coupling

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 22 November 2020]

Entitled rich businessman Walter Whirtle (Alan Hale) and his wife Vivian (Irene Manning) can't keep any workers at his estate. He gets arrested arguing a parking ticket. He meets private investigator Jerry Curtis (Jack Carson) in jail. Curtis had tried to arrest the district attorney and is marrying his secretary Susan Courtney (Jane Wyman). Whirtle has a crazy case for him and his 'wife'.

This is marginally funny. It tries to be wacky. The story is non-sensical. I don't know much about Jack Carson. He has an easiness about him and a nice report with Wyman. I like their chemistry together. The story is somewhat stupid and fulfills a wartime need. The slapstick is clunky at times. I do like the duo and their incompetent work. The rest is a muddle.

Funny Moments, but Poorly Combined

[dougdoepke · 20 January 2017]

Uneven comedy that benefits from Jack Carson's mugging skills but that's about all. The plot's darn near incomprehensible in its three main threads. The comedic thread where Carson and Wyman take on servant's duties they're totally unprepared for is promising. The second thread about his detective work is okay. But the third, about supposedly pseudo-Nazis is a gesture to the time and very poorly managed.

Overall, the comedy's left mainly to Carson and not the movie itself. Then too, director Godfrey doesn't seem very engaged, as though the script and Carson should be enough. Check out director Alan Dwan's thematically similar Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) for an edifying contrast. Nonetheless, there are some amusing bits— the bed bouncing test that's also innuendo, Carson and Wyman preparing the world's worst fancy meal, and Carson showering in the girl's quarters where towels magically appear. Too bad Carson's largely forgotten. He was a fine all around actor, as adept at drama as he was at comedy. The movie, however, is far from his best.

You can't keep good servants these days

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 3 April 2020]

In those WW2 days of 1944 Alan Hale and Irene Manning are having trouble keeping their help. Jack Carson.is a detective who can't detect., but he needs a job. He and girl friend Jane Wyman go to work for Hale as butler and cook to find the nasty Nazi spies who are threatening Hale's munitions plant.

Carson and Wyman are as bad as domestics as Carson is a detective. Somehow through divine intervention he does detect Nazis. With an accent like Kurt Katch has it would be hard not to.

Carwon and Wyman are funny, but sadly Make Your Own Bed is one very dated WW2 era comedy.

I thought it was funny!

[nelsoll77 · 7/10 · 6 April 2020]

Exactly the sort of breezy, silly movie I love to watch when I just don't want to think about worries, problems - anything!! Jack Carson is hilarious!

Frenetic and Crass

[Handlinghandel · 2/10 · 23 November 2004]

This movie has at least four plots going on at once. They really don't work well together and none on its own is plausible.

The direction is at a frantic pace. It's forced and charmless and it looks as if everyone involved knew this. The pace is like a Looney Toons cartoon but neither that nor sound effects nor zany music helps.

I found joking about Nazis in so offhand a manner in 1944 shocking. One of the plots involves radio actors who pretend to be real Nazis and then turn out in fact to be real Nazis. The word is pronounced by almost all the actors so that the first syllable sounds like that of the word nasty.

Maybe the movie was made before its year of release but if so, it ought to have been scrapped altogether. There was nothing remotely funny about Nazism in 1944 (nor was there or will there ever be.)about Nazism in 1944 (nor was there or will there ever be.)

Dated B comedy

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 9 January 2016]

Jack Carson and Jane Wyman star in "Make Your Own Bed," from 1944, also starring Alan Hale and Ricardo Cortez.

Carson plays Jerry, a private detective, who is in jail for arresting the DA. In jail, he meets Walter (Hale) there on a minor matter. Walter is desperate for a cook and butler. In order to get Jerry to work for him, he says that his life is in danger, a neighbor is after his wife, and Nazi spies abound. He also wants a cook, so Jerry talks his fiancée Susan (Wyman) to go along with him.

Walter does all he can to keep Jerry "on the case." He sends threatening letters to himself and hires radio actors to play spies.

Walter can't buttle, and Susan can't cook but they keep trying; despite there being no case originally, it turns out there is one after all.

Cute but dated, with Jerry presenting Susan as his wife and then being stuck in a room with her that has a double bed. It's a very slight movie, with decent acting. Carson was always pleasant and Wyman very talented and pretty, Hale appropriately uppity - all are good, there's just not much to the movie.

4 for Jack.

[gkeith_1 · 4/10 · 27 October 2017]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.

Jack's being in it gives it a 4 for me. Otherwise, it looked pretty lackluster.

I couldn't watch all of this. The Nazi element started kicking in, and I lost it.

These people unsmiling, speaking German in the room with Walter during the time period of World War Two, were really scary and offputting. I realize that they were supposed to be actors for Walter's use, but at that point I stopped watching.

Bosley Crowther was right, in his 1940s critique of this film, in that there is not much to redeem it.

I did like Jane Wyman's hair, hat and other costuming in the earlier scenes. Of course, I always like Jack. If not for Jack, I would have given this film a 2 or 3 — I think my lowest of any of the around 374-ish number of films I have reviewed on this site since 2002.

I did like seeing Irene Manning, Fay Templeton from Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, two years earlier). I always enjoy seeing Alan Hale, Sr.

I hate the black and white!

Jack, I still love you.

I am a degreed historian from the university, actress, dancer, singer, makeup artist, film critic and movie reviewer.

A mystery film without any mystery...or will there be?

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 14 April 2016]

Walter (Alan Hale) and Vivian are goofy rich folks who cannot keep servants. When Walter decides to try to pick servants himself, things get goofy. After meeting Detective Jerry Curtis (Jack Carson) while in jail together, Walter decides Jerry would be the perfect servant along with his 'wife' (Jane Wyman...and they don't realize she is only Jerry's girlfriend). So, in an insane plot twist, he hires the pair on the pretense that he wants them to protect him at the estate because someone wants to do him harm! There is no crime...so Walter hires some actors to pretend to be house guests and then has Walter investigate while posing as hired help. Does any of this make sense? Nope....not at all. Nor does it make sense that some of the 'actors' might just be Nazi spies!!

Overall, this is a better than average mystery film because it offers so many novel plot elements. It also has some nice laughs and is a very nice time-passer.

Enjoyable little B-comedy

[hmpulham · 9/10 · 11 September 2004]

Good comedians like Jack Carson, Jane Wyman and Alan Hale make this little film funny for those who don't demand high art. Would-be detective Carson, and girlfriend, Wyman take on jobs as domestics to a wealthy businessman (Hale). The fact that it's World War II, and servants are supposedly hard to get, is the meat of the story line. Wyman can't begin to cook a decent meal,

and Carson is worthless as a man servant. Despite this, the desperate Hale won't fire them -- lousy help is better than no help. Eventually, bumbling detective Carson, finds out that Nazi spies are house guests, and despite almost getting Hale and Wyman killed, captures them. This film is funny, and that's enough for me.

Jack Carson saves the day!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 1 November 2013]

A very amusing comedy, directed with an occasional flourish by Peter Godfrey (e.g. Jack Carson's frantic chase after Jane Wyman through the sidewalk crowds), and cleverly photographed by Robert Burks. Two of my favorite people, namely Ricardo Cortez and Tala Birell, have only minor roles, alas, but Jack Carson is in his element as a would-be detective and there's a most unusual interpretation by Robert Shayne of Carson's Ralph Bellamy-style boss! Jane Wyman makes an effective stooge. Her cooking scene is very neatly timed. In fact, the whole episode with the dinner is really hilarious, each gag being neatly topped by another, and thus building to a really rib-tickling finale. Alan Hale makes an excellent foil, while Irene Manning and George Tobias provide many chuckles with their well-timed comedy support. True, the movie is not all clear sailing. There are a couple of slow patches – chiefly two or three dialogue exchanges between Carson and Wyman which sharper film editing should have trimmed away. (Clarence Kolster must have been asleep at his bench). Nevertheless, the pace generally is brisk and seeing the movie on TV does not have the same ambiance as viewing it in a theatre. The situations are lively and amusing, while production values might certainly be described as lavish. In fact, photography, sets, costumes and music scoring could all justly be labeled "top-drawer".

fun war time story

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 29 January 2021]

Funny guys Jack Carson and Alan Hale SENIOR ! every black and white film in the 1940s, 1950s had at least one of them, sometimes both of them. This one has the silliest, convoluted plot... it's 1944, so deep in WW II, so everyone is on the lookout for spies. For job security, Whirtle (Hale) hires on Jerry and Susan (Carson and Jane Wyman) as household help. but.. they aren't really married, and we're still way in the film code, so they shouldn't be sleeping in the same room, much less the same bed. this takes up a lot of the story... the bedroom caper, as they try to figure out the sleeping logistics. are there really spies running around? maybe. maybe not. it's a fun, silly script, but they needed some fun during dark wartime. some fun sight gags. and George Tobias, character actor for YEARS, before he ended up as Abner, the next door neighbor on Bewitched. this one is very well done. not many people could turn a spy thriller into a bedroom farce and keep it fun. why such low rating on imdb?? directed by brit Peter Godfrey. worked with some great stars, made some great films.

Too outdated for 21st century audience

[dawh1 · 15 August 2005]

This is one of those movies from the first half of the 20th century that is based on a concept that a 21st century viewer can't relate to without some sort of explanation. Much of the conflict revolves around the idea of: "Oh, dear, they think we're married and they expect us to sleep in the same room, but we're not married and therefore we can't possibly sleep in the same room. Whatever will we do?" It wasn't even the idea of having sex outside of marriage that was so horrifying. It was just being in the same room. Maybe an audience in 1944 would have understood that, but in 2005 the reaction is "Who the hell cares if they're married? You don't plan to have sex, don't have sex. Keep your clothes on if you want to. But shut up already about whether you're married or not." It's just too stupid for anybody to care about.