My Favorite Wife (1940)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Garson Kanin

Writers:

Bella Spewack (original story) &
Sam Spewack (original story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 May 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

The funniest, fastest honeymoon ever screened!

Plot:

Ellen Arden arrives 7 years after being given up for dead in a shipwreck, to find her husband Nick just remarried to Bianca...

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Shipwreck | Island | Trial | Stranded

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Irene Dunne	...	Ellen Arden
Cary Grant	...	Nick Arden
Randolph Scott	...	Steve Burkett
Gail Patrick	...	Bianca Bates
Ann Shoemaker	...	Ellen's mother
Scotty Beckett	...	Little Tim Arden
Mary Lou Harrington	...	Little Chinch Arden
Donald MacBride	...	Hotel Clerk
Hugh O'Connell	...	Johnson - insurance investigator
Granville Bates	...	Judge Bryson
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Dr. Kohlmar - psychiatrist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joseph E. Bernard	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Frank Ellis	...	(scenes deleted)
Edward Emerson	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Bruce MacFarlane	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Frank Marlowe	...	Photographer (scenes deleted)
Cyril Ring	...	Contestant (scenes deleted)
Brandon Tynan	...	Dr. Manning (scenes deleted)
Jean Acker	...	Postponed case witness (uncredited)
Murray Alper	...	Yosemite bartender (uncredited)
Leon Belasco	...	Waiter - Pacific Club poolside (uncredited)
Joe Cabrillas	...	Phillip (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Page boy paging Burkett (uncredited)
Chester Clute	...	Shoe salesman (uncredited)
Corky	...	Corky, the Dog (uncredited)
Franco Corsaro	...	Waiter bringing wine (uncredited)
Florence Dudley	...	Postponed case witness (uncredited)
Harold Gerard	...	Assistant court clerk (uncredited)
Roque Guinart	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Earle Hodgins	...	Court clerk beside Judge Bryson (uncredited)
Edna Holland	...	Johnny Weissmuller inquirer (uncredited)
Thelma Joel	...	Miss Rosenthal - Nick's legal secretary (uncredited)
Cy Kendall	...	Police detective arresting Nick (uncredited)
Ellen Lowe	...	Weissmuller inquirer's companion (uncredited)
Margaret Martin	...	(uncredited)
Horace McMahon	...	Truck driver giving lift to Ellen (uncredited)
Sue Moore	...	Maid drying Ellen's clothes (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Postponed case lawyer (uncredited)
Clive Morgan	...	Postponed case lawyer (uncredited)
George Noisom	...	Page boy bringing Steve's robe (uncredited)
Bob Reeves	...	(uncredited)
Ronald R. Rondell	...	Bellboy #1 (uncredited)
Matty Roubert	...	Page boy paging Mr. Arden (uncredited)
Eli Schmudkler	...	Janitor (uncredited)
Pat West	...	Caretaker at Arden's mountain place (uncredited)

Directed by
Garson Kanin

Writing credits
Bella Spewack		(original story) &
Sam Spewack		(original story) (as Samuel Spewack) and
Leo McCarey		(original story)
Bella Spewack		(written by) &
Sam Spewack		(written by) (as Samuel Spewack)
Garson Kanin		uncredited
Alfred Lord Tennyson		poem "Enoch Arden" (uncredited)
John McClain		uncredited

Produced by
Leo McCarey	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
Rudolph Maté

Film Editing by
Robert Wise

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Howard Greer		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James H. Anderson	....	assistant director
Ruby Rosenberg	....	assistant director

Art Department
Mark-Lee Kirk	....	associate art director

Sound Department
John E. Tribby	....	sound recordist

Other crew
Bert Granet	....	screenplay constructor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (France) (theatrical) (as RKO Radio Films)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Éditions Montparnasse (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

88 min | Germany:75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #5974)

Filming Locations:

Ahwanee Hotel, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, "Enoch Arden," about a fisherman presumed lost at sea who returns to find his wife remarried, was the basis of five prior films: Enoch Arden (1914), Die Toten kehren wieder - Enoch Arden (1919), and D.W. Griffith's Enoch Arden: Part I (1911), Enoch Arden: Part II (1911), and Enoch Arden (1915). Those films adhered to Tennyson's poem. But in My Favorite Wife, Something's Got to Give (1962), and Move Over, Darling (1963), only the basic idea of a spouse who returns is kept, with the spouse presumed lost now being the wife. However, in all of these films, the surname of the couple in question remains "Arden."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Nick first tries to sleep in the bed in the attic of the cabin, he pulls a toy cannon from under the bed and throws it across the room. When he does this, the doll on the night stand falls over. You can see the trip wire swinging behind Nick. In fact, the pin at the end of the wire lands on Nick's head.

Quotes:

[Dr. Kohlmar walks in on Nick holding a dress in front of himself with a lady's hat on his head]
Nick Arden: Do you think this goes together? Blue ought to go with blue, right?
Dr. Kohlmar: Yes, I suppose.
Nick Arden: It's for a friend.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Move Over, Darling (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Skaters Waltz (Les patineurs)

"You're Not Allowed To Have Two Wives, You Know"

From the opening moments, when the big wooden doors part and usher us into a beautifully spare art deco courtroom with slanting shafts of sunlight enhancing the clean architectural lines, we know that this is going to be a deftly-made, elegant film. What follows does not disappoint us.

Attorney Nick Arden (Cary Grant) lost his wife Ellen in a shipwreck in the Pacific seven years ago. He has now decided to have her declared officially dead, so that he will be free to marry Bianca (Gail Patrick). The irascible judge eventually accedes to both the declaration and the marriage, and the newly-weds set off for a honeymoon in Yosemite. Meanwhile, who should turn up at the Arden residence, very much alive, but the long-lost Ellen? When she hears of the recent marriage, she heads straight for the honeymooners' hotel ...

"My Favourite Wife" is a fine example of those early Cary Grant farces, the ones in which he gawps with surprise, double-takes and mutters to himself as only he can. Irene smoke-gets-in-your-eyes Dunn is great as Ellen, unveiling a hitherto unsuspected gift for witty comedy. Scotty Beckett and Mary Lou Harrington come close to stealing the show as the Ardens' cute little kids. Randolph Scott is interestingly cast as Steve Burkett, the muscle-bound Adonis who spent seven years on the desert island with Ellen.

Some of the film's highlights are worth mentioning here, like the superimposition of Burkett performing gymnastic feats alongside Nick Arden's troubled face as he muses at his desk, conveying with economy the husband's jealous preoccupation. It is unfair to give away a film's jokes, but one gag which lose nothing in the telling is Ellen's outfit at the Yosemite hotel. She has been out of circulation for seven years, and she looks comically untrendy in her 1932 polkadots and lapels, and obtrusive hat. Watch for the derisive glances from the other hotel guests.

Such a light, charming piece of entertainment is hard to fault, but the film does have some shortcomings. Its central problem, which is not resolved, is what to do with Bianca. She married Nick in good faith and has done nothing wrong, yet she is neglected by Nick. Because there is no satisfactory way of dealing with her, she is simply dropped. Ellen's return from a watery grave after all those years would be a news story of international importance, but instead she arrives home having hitched a ride in a truck. Her entry into the country seems to have gone unannounced, even to her husband. The scene in which she persuades a shoe store clerk to pose as 'Adam' in front of Nick has enormous comic potential, but is abandoned after a few seconds. Nick's sleeping-in-the-attic scene is far too long for the humour it contains.

However, the film is a pleasant and very amusing romp, and such weaknesses as it contains do not detract from its appeal.