Without Reservations (1946)

My Review

“Without Reservations” is a comedy film about a famous author on a train from New York to Los Angeles who gets acquainted with two Marines. Unaware of her celebrity status, they criticize her new book, and she falls in love with one of them anyway. Director Mervyn LeRoy put together an absorbing comedy which does have a few rough spots, but is basically good entertainment with quality production values and acceptable writing. The screenplay by Andrew Solt was adapted from the 1946 novel “Thanks God! I’ll Take It From Here” by Jane Allen and Mae Livingstone.

The success of the film relied heavily on the popular personas of stars Claudette Colbert and John Wayne, who did not usually involve himself in this type of romantic comedy. The cast includes Claudette Colbert as the wordsmith, John Wayne and Don DeFore as the two Marines, Anne Triola, Phil Brown, Frank Puglia, Louella Parsons, Jack Benny, Cary Grant, Dolores Mann, Raymond Burr, and Mervyn LeRoy. The watchable “Without Reservations” was popular at the box office for RKO Pictures. It was filmed at the RKO Radio Pictures Studios in Hollywood.