The More the Merrier (1943) - George Stevens 

Jean Arthur makes her second appearance in a George Stevens film with this delightful comedy that is very much a product of its time. During WWII there was a tremendous housing shortage in Washington DC, and therein lies the backdrop for this film. Arthur sublets her apartment to Mr. Dingle who in turn sublets his half of the apartment to Mr. Carter (Joel McCrea). Everything is set up for these two to get together. Carter's ambivalence towards other women, Milligan's (Arthur) engagement to a stuffy and ill fitted suitor. The irony of the story is when Arthur says that her fiance is 42, and everyone scoffs at how old he is, and far too old for her. However at the time of filming this picture Jean Arthur herself was 42 years old, hard to believe but true. Arthur landed her one and only Oscar nomination for best actress with this film, she lost to the undeserving Jennifer Jones in Song of Bernadette. Arthur goes all over the place here, hysterically sobbing, being ultra efficient, and desperately in love. Amazing to think of how fragile a personality she really had and the immense difficulty she had in performing. She only made two more films after this, but a fine culmination to all the great work she had done at Columbia since 1936.

*The More the Merrier was nominated for best picture, best director, best original screenplay, and best actress.