A Bride for Henry

Flirtatious socialite Sheila is stood up at the altar by her playboy fiance Eric. Angered and eager to save face, she presses her solicitor Henry into wedlock. Initially resistant to the idea, Henry agrees in the hopes that she will learn to love him. Still yearning for cad Eric and intolerant of her new husband's queer ways, Sheila callously uses Henry as fodder for jealousy.

Sylvia's wicked plan to renew Eric's attention succeeds and Eric crashes the honeymoon of the unhappy couple. Conscripted into a three-way outing, Eric and Henry battle for Sheila's favor, leading to an near-deadly swimming mishap, a night spent in jail, and broken hearts nursed by wounded egos.

Cool and witty but with an antic heart, A Bride for Henry is a spirited door-slamming farce. Oblivious to the fact that they should fall into each other's arms, Anne Nagel and Warren Hull create romantic sparks reminiscent of Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby. A Bride for Henry also features cult actress Claudia Dell, famed for her performance in Carl Laemmle's 1932 production of Destry Rides Again.

Light intrigue and sophisticated slapstick makes A Bride for Henry a pioneering American high jinks comedy that melds the effervescence of drawing room double entendre with the silly carnality of frat house humor.

• comedy