It's World War II and there is a severe housing shortage everywhere - especially in Washington, D.C. where Connie Milligan rents an apartment. Believing it to be her patriotic duty, Connie offers to sublet half of her apartment, fully expecting a suitable female tenent. What she gets instead is mischievous, middle-aged Benjamin Dingle. Dingle talks her into subletting to him and then promptly sublets half of his half to young, irreverent Joe Carter - creating a situation tailor-made for comedy and romance.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.4/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.78/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
George Stevens
Production
Columbia Pictures
Cast
Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn, Richard Gaines, Bruce Bennett, Frank Sully, Donald Douglas, Clyde Fillmore, Stanley Clements, Sam Ash, Don Barclay, Brandon Beach, Betzi Beaton, Hank Bell, Edward Biby, Gladys Blake, Lulu Mae Bohrman, Sally Cairns, Jack Carr, Ruth Cherrington
Curator Review
Verdict
A sparkling wartime screwball romance with fast dialogue, physical comedy, and surprising heat under the Hays Code surface. The cramped-apartment setup is a perfect engine for escalating misunderstandings, but the film’s real appeal is the chemistry and the humane, lightly patriotic backdrop.
Best for
fans of classic screwball comedy
viewers who like old Hollywood chemistry and banter
people seeking a romantic comedy with genuine warmth
audiences interested in WWII-era homefront stories
Skip if
you dislike 1940s pacing and performance style
you want modern-style explicit romance
you prefer plot-heavy comedies over dialogue-driven ones
Overview
The More the Merrier is one of those classic comedies that turns inconvenience into pure romantic electricity. A wartime housing shortage traps three mismatched people in one apartment, and the movie keeps finding fresh ways to make that setup funnier, flirtier, and more emotionally alive. It’s brisk, clever, and far more suggestive than its era might imply.
Worth noting
Jean Arthur is the engine of the film: sharp, funny, and wonderfully exasperated, with a performance that makes every line feel spontaneous. Joel McCrea plays beautifully against her, while Charles Coburn gives the whole thing its mischievous, matchmaking momentum. The movie’s best scenes have a loose, almost improvisational rhythm that makes the apartment feel crowded in the best possible way.
Bottom line
What lingers is not just the comedy but the sense that romance here is a form of wartime resilience. The film treats scarcity, proximity, and awkwardness as conditions that can produce connection rather than despair. It’s a featherlight classic with real charm, and it earns its reputation as one of the era’s most delightful romantic comedies.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sarah (4★) · 281 likes
Currently high on all the yearning and the soft lighting and the one-take conversations and Joel McCrea gently caressing Jean Arthur’s shoulders and Jean Arthur grabbing Joel McCrea’s face when they kiss and "FULL SPEED AHEAD" and Jean Arthur crying away atop a plate of catfish and rice on her wedding day. Movies are wonderful.
covkate (5★) · 246 likes
Why am I wasting my time watching any film that does not have Jean Arthur in it?
A scrumptious sugarpuff of a film in the best possible way: I adored it. Jean Arthur is absolute magic. She has such a talent for comedy, both physically and in her delivery, and I love everything about her. She looks so cute here, too - in her work outfits, in her stripey pyjamas, and that supercute playsuit when she's up on the roof!… more
eely (3★) · 217 likes
jean arthur playing a character who is engaged to an older forty year old man when she was in fact forty three at the time is such a power move. also how did that front stoop scene pass the production code?? it had me Sweating oh my god.
Sara Clements (4.5★) · 198 likes
NAME SOMEONE CUTER THAN JEAN ARTHUR I'LL WAIT
(I would also like to take this moment to remind ya'll that she taught Meryl Streep in acting school)
nora (5★) · 162 likes
i love how this movie is basically the code-era version of the "oh no there's only one bed in this hotel room i guess we have to share :/" trope but extended into an entire movie and so much more creatively horny. that scene on the stoop is still absolutely ridiculous like joel mccrea going straight for jean arthur's neck??? i think about it daily.
A foundational romantic comedy with chemistry, travel-based friction, and enduring charm.
Topics
classic Hollywood, screwball comedy, romantic comedy, World War II, wartime homefront, fast dialogue, apartment farce, sexual tension, black-and-white, 1940s