Film Review
After their immense success in
The
Awful Truth (1937), Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are brought
together for a second helping of screwball hijinks.
My Favorite Wife is a breezy romantic
comedy that was RKO's second most successful film of the year. If
the plot sounds familiar it is because it was inspired by Alfred Lord
Tennyson's poem
Enoch Arden,
a fact that is acknowledged in the surname of the main characters.
Cary Grant is as smooth and debonair as ever, delivering some great
comedy with effortless ease and more charm than you could find in a
dozen girls' finishing schools. And there aren't many men who
could get away with wearing a leopard skin dressing gown. The more convoluted the plot
becomes, the funnier Grant is, particularly as he is
assisted by some very talented supporting artistes. Although
they were a natural screen couple, Grant and Dunne would only appear
together in one more film, the tear-jerker
Penny Serenade (1941).
Twenty years later, Marilyn Monroe was to have starred in a remake
entitled
Something's Got to Give, directed by George Cukor. When Monroe
was fired for persistent absenteeism, she was replaced with Doris Day and the film
released as
Move Over, Darling in 1963.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Ellen Arden returns to her family home to find that her husband Nick
has just married another woman, Bianca. Nick is under the
misapprehension that Ellen is dead, having drowned seven years ago
during a nature expedition. In fact, Ellen has spent the past
seven years stranded on a desert island, with only an Adonis named
Stephen Burkett to keep her comany. When Nick learns of Ellen's
return, his first thought is how to break the news to his second
wife. Bianca is a beautiful woman but it is Ellen whom he
really loves. Unfortunately, Burkett also loves Ellen and he reckons he
has a stronger claim to her than Nick does...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.