Male War Bride

 

When I was little my Mom and I watched “I Was a Male War Bride” – a 1949 Comedy starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan.

It was just on TV again so I rewatched it.

It is about a French Army Officer (a Man) – played by Cary Grant – who marries an American Nurse (a Woman) – played by Ann Sheridan – who then has to pass as a “War Bride” in order to enter the United States under the Post-World War 2 War Brides Act.

It was filmed partly in Post-War Heidelberg, West Germany in 1948 where many of the Actors, Actresses and Production Crew got different illnesses, from life amid the War Ruins and Shortages, which shut down Production for 3 months.

The Movie is based on "Male War Bride Trial to Army" a Biography of a Belgian (Riger Charlier) who married an American Nurse after World War 2 and had to deal with the US Immigration War Brides (not War Grooms) Regulations Immigration Act.

The 1945 US War Brides Act, which was valid until 1949, allowed US Soldiers to bring their Foreign Wives and Children born outside the US to the States – not using the Regular Strict Immigration Quota System in place for Non-Military Spouses (especially for Asian Citizens) in place until 1965.

Around 300,000 Women and Children from Europe (70,000 from the United Kingdom; 20,000 from West Germany; 10,000 from Italy; etc.), 50,000 from Japan; 15,500 from Australia and 1,500 from New Zealand came into the US under the 1945 War Brides Act and became American Citizens.

All the US Federal Government Immigration Rules were written for any Foreign War Brides (Male or Female), but the US Military Regulations were written for Women and Children only so a “Male War Bride” had to circumvent the Regulations.

Roger Charlier, who write the Book the Film is based on, was born in Antwerp, Belgium on November 10, 1921. He was a Teacher in the 1940s and worked in the Belgian Resistance - helping Belgians escape to the Allies and gathering information on what the Germans were doing at the Antwerp Port - during the German Occupation (1940-1945) for which he was briefly imprisoned.

After World War 2 Charlier worked for the Belgian Ministry of Justice, he became a member of the prosecuting team for the Belgian and Luxembourg Delegation to the Nuremberg Trials, interrogating, among others, Eggert Reeder (the Nazi in charge of the German Occupation of Belgium.)

He then became the Deputy-Director to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), managing a Refugee Camp in Ansbach, near Nuremberg, West Germany.

There he met and married American Army Nurse Captain Marie Helen Glennon. This marriage was highly uncommon, since more American Male Soldiers married European Women.

The American Consul in Frankfurt advised Charlier that "Spouse" could mean Bride as well as Groom, which helped to regularize his situation. He then wrote his Book about his coming to the US.

His Wife, Marie, died after ten years of Marriage. The Couple had no children. Later, Charlier married Patricia Mary Simonet, with whom he had two Children.

He worked in Teaching and Research Activities in Oceanography and Earth Sciences for nearly 8 Decades. In 1958 he was doing research on Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s ship the Calypso.

Charlier taught as a Professor, Visiting Professor, and Research Scholar at many Universities in the US, France, and Belgium, including at Finch College (1958—1983), Northeastern Illinois University (1961—1986), and the University of Bordeaux (1972—1975).

He retired in 1989 and died on September 16, 2018 in Etterbeek, Belgium at 96 years old.