An ensemble cast including Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Marilyn Monroe, Louis Calherne, Mitzi Gaynor and Eddie Bracken star in this anthology romantic comedy, following five married couples who discover that—owing to a clerical error years before—they were never legally married. 

This is told as a series of vignettes, each focusing on a different couple, but despite the talent involved it never properly takes off. There’s just too many different stories jostling for attention here: none get the breathing space to develop, and because they’re told one after the other we don’t ever really get much of chance to see the impact this situation has on these characters. 

It should have been a jumping-off point for some great conflict, but while a few segments here build some solid situations (especially the bits featuring Calherne’s long-suffering husband and Bracken’s nervy AWOL soldier) as a whole this doesn’t really do enough with the possibilities at its disposal, which stops even the strongest vignettes from really coming to life. 

It’s a bit lopsided really, told with an underlying dourness that leaves everything too muted to exceed the sum of its parts. As a result, even with some residual charm from the stars We’re Not Married ultimately feels a bit lacklustre, this anthology tale stretched too thin in a way that ends up disappointingly flat for the most part.