After the proper forms are filled out, and signed by the proper military authorities, the two marry. Their honeymoon is spoiled by orders to ship Sheridan back to the States. Often accompanied by pretty and young Marion Marshall, Sheridan and Grant scheme to overcome military bureaucratic red tape to find Grant a bed to sleep in and a berth on the ship to America.
There really was an Henri Rochard, a Belgian who wed a nurse and emigrated to America under the War Bride Act. That is likely where the similarities to the plot end, although Rochard must have endured enough Army red tape to inspire him to write his true story on the subject, and see it purchased by 20th Century Fox.
How others will see it. Although burdened with production problems, such as poor weather and serious illnesses for the director and leads, the efforts paid off when I Was a Male War Bride proved a box office success. But it was ignored by the Oscars, Golden Globes, and BAFTA.
The most obvious problem with the film is that Cary Grant, who was British and spent decades in America, is supposed to be French. One wonders why Hawks simply didn't make Grant's character British, which would have greatly improved the film's credibility while little impacting its plot.
Aside from Grant's refusal to adopt a French accent, which may have been for the best, the IMDB user ratings are lower than one might suspect. Men grade it only 7.0, while women see it slightly better at 7.3. Reading the (surprisingly many) negative user reviews, some find the situations forced, the romantic chemistry between the leads unconvincing, and even the military red tape is tagged as excessive. Surely, Grant's character, as late as 1946, was not the first foreigner to marry a female American military officer. For example, there were 60,000 Army nurses during World War II.
How I felt about it. None of the film's issues bother me much. I know that Cary Grant is not French, but I don't particularly care. It is absurd that 6' 2" Cary Grant could ever pass as a woman by wearing a horse-tail wig, or that he would be forced to such extremes in order to board the ship. But it is a comedy, and like other Cary Grant comedies of the era, he is obligated to endure endless humilities to reach the happy romantic ending. And nobody played such roles better.
Slapstick and absurd situations were familiar ground for Howard Hawks and Cary Grant, given that they had made Bringing Up Baby (1938) and, later, Monkey Business (1952). Aside from Hawks and Grant, the key talent for the film was screenwriter Charles Lederer, who also worked on many of Hawks' other movies. During his career, Lederer received four best screenplay nominations from the Writers Guild of America, the first for I Was a Male War Bride.