While John Wayne and Don DeFore were launched as a comedy team for the first (and last) time in Without Reservations (WR), viewers may be struck by their similarity to the Dennis Morgan/Jack Carson pairings featured in a number of Warner Brothers "buddy" comedies from the 1940s. DeFore resembled Carson's comic persona in many ways, although he never quite equaled Carson in overall acting ability. Wayne and DeFore made an enjoyable comedy twosome in WR, and it is too bad that they never got another chance to reprise their act. In fact, Wayne demonstrated a subtle---almost understated comic flair in WR, and it is a shame that he didn't pursue similar roles in his future career choices along with those many other Western and military films.
One of the pleasant surprises in WR was the abundant scene-stealing of little known Anne Triola. Her ditzy shrill supporting performance was both funny and engaging. Triola should have enjoyed a more substantial film career than the one she actually realized.
Another positive addition to WR was the bit role played by lovely Dona Drake, as the sexy Mexican girl Wayne and DeFore encounter in their travels. As noted in her IMDB biography, Drake had a most interesting background in real life. She was the child of African-American parents, and generally "passed" as a non-Black ethnic type (usually Mexican) in order to try to further her show business career. IMDB pointed out that Drake's life story actually resembled certain aspects of that of the Fredi Washington character from the original film version of Fanny Hurst's Imitation Of Life. And notwithstanding her considerable beauty and talent, Drake (like Triola) was destined to have a similarly limited future as a movie performer.
This was the first time that Wayne was directed by the veteran Mervyn LeRoy. The two men worked well together, and developed a lifelong friendship. Many years later, Wayne contacted LeRoy to assist him in his directing of The Green Berets film. LeRoy graciously agreed to help his old friend. His uncredited participation represented the last such movie project of LeRoy's decades-long career.
When they made WR, Claudette Colbert was 43 and John Wayne was 39. This was one of the first times that Colbert was paired with a younger actor in a romantic film. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the latter phase of Audrey Hepburn's own acting career trajectory.
Others have pointed out a certain plot resemblance between WR and Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, and the interesting fact that in WR Colbert was cast in the somewhat similar "Clark Gable role" of the earlier movie. Like so many such attempts to repeat the success of a previous classic, WR lacked the intangible "something" that often distinguished the "good" from the "great." Nonetheless, WR is an entertaining film that has its own charms, and is worthy of your attention in its own right.
One of the pleasant surprises in WR was the abundant scene-stealing of little known Anne Triola. Her ditzy shrill supporting performance was both funny and engaging. Triola should have enjoyed a more substantial film career than the one she actually realized.
Another positive addition to WR was the bit role played by lovely Dona Drake, as the sexy Mexican girl Wayne and DeFore encounter in their travels. As noted in her IMDB biography, Drake had a most interesting background in real life. She was the child of African-American parents, and generally "passed" as a non-Black ethnic type (usually Mexican) in order to try to further her show business career. IMDB pointed out that Drake's life story actually resembled certain aspects of that of the Fredi Washington character from the original film version of Fanny Hurst's Imitation Of Life. And notwithstanding her considerable beauty and talent, Drake (like Triola) was destined to have a similarly limited future as a movie performer.
This was the first time that Wayne was directed by the veteran Mervyn LeRoy. The two men worked well together, and developed a lifelong friendship. Many years later, Wayne contacted LeRoy to assist him in his directing of The Green Berets film. LeRoy graciously agreed to help his old friend. His uncredited participation represented the last such movie project of LeRoy's decades-long career.
When they made WR, Claudette Colbert was 43 and John Wayne was 39. This was one of the first times that Colbert was paired with a younger actor in a romantic film. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the latter phase of Audrey Hepburn's own acting career trajectory.
Others have pointed out a certain plot resemblance between WR and Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, and the interesting fact that in WR Colbert was cast in the somewhat similar "Clark Gable role" of the earlier movie. Like so many such attempts to repeat the success of a previous classic, WR lacked the intangible "something" that often distinguished the "good" from the "great." Nonetheless, WR is an entertaining film that has its own charms, and is worthy of your attention in its own right.