Jean Arthur as Connie Milligan: 5 Quotes About Iconic Role

Through the decades, actress Jean Arthur made dozens of movies, but was only nominated for an Academy Award for one of these roles. That role was playing Connie Milligan in the 1943 George Stevens romantic comedy hit "The More the Merrier."

For this production, the actress played the role of a landlord who ends up renting the second bedroom in her apartment to two different men (Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn) at the same time thanks to a post World War II housing shortage. Comedy and love ensues.

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Here are five quotes about Arthur's iconic acting role in this film.

1. "As the sorely put-upon little lady, Miss Arthur plays with spirit and with charm. Her indignations have the quality of those of a bantam hen and her nervous submission to the advances of Mr. McCrea are a tickling delight." – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

2. "Arthur plays with customary spiritedness and charm a prim and proper civil servant, a stickler for the system, who's half-heartedly engaged to Mr. Pendergast, a stiff who at 42 is "the youngest man to occupy the position of assistant regional manager." – Emmanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7

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3. "Coburn won an Oscar for his supporting role as the mischievous old matchmaker Mr. Dingle, but the real pleasure lies in the sympathetic ensemble playing: the trio trying to stick to Arthur's farcical morning schedule; sunbathing on the roof reading Dick Tracy; or the young lovers necking on the front steps." – TCH, Time Out London

4. "Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, and Charles Coburn are all at their best in this charming romantic comedy (1943) in which they all wind up as roommates during the housing shortage in wartime Washington." – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

5. "Maybe the trials of living in the nation's capital are not as humorous as seen herein. To judge by reports from present inmates, they're not having anything like the fun or the encounters with gay adventure as are enjoyed by Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. But, no matter how tough conditions, they are cozy, as Charles Coburn says. Washington makes some curious bedfellows. And so does "The More the Merrier." - Bosley Crowther, That New York Times.

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