Leo McCarey was supposed to both produce and direct My Favorite Wife, but an illness forced him to relinquish the director's chair to Garson Kanin, who did a splendid job. This hilarious retread of the old "Enoch Arden" legend stars Irene Dunne as Ellen, who returns home to her husband Nick (Cary Grant) and children Tim (Ann Shoemaker) and Chinch (Mary Lou Harrington) after being marooned on a desert island for seven years. Thing of it is, Ellen has been declared legally dead, and Nick has taken unto himself a second wife, the bitchy Bianca (Gail Patrick). Upon discovering that Ellen is still alive, Nick is on the verge of a tender reunion-until it discovers that she spent those seven lost years in the company of handsome Mr. Barkett (Randolph Scott). The superb supporting cast includes Granville Bates as a flummoxed judge, Chester Clute as a meek shoe salesman whom Ellen tries to pass off as Barkett, and Donald MacBride as a beetle-browed honeymoon-hotel clerk. My Favorite Wife was remade in 1963 as Move Over Darling, in which Irene Dunne and Cary Grant were replaced by Doris Day and James Garner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Review
My Favorite Wife is a fast-paced, delightful farce that sparkles from beginning to end. Unlike the vastly inferior remake, Move Over, Darling, just about everything in Wife is absolutely right, starting with that farceur par excellenceCary Grant and that quintessence of wifely charm Irene Dunne. Both of these excellent actors possessed impressive ranges, and both were experts at the kind of light-but-serious touch that material of this sort requires; if the touch is too light, the essential silliness of the piece becomes evident, and if it is too serious, it kills the fun. Grant and Dunne skate across the screenplay without slipping and falling for even an instance. They're aided, of course, by Garson Kanin's fluid, assured and "fun" direction; Kanin's sense of humor and natural feel for the material shines through in every frame. The director even gets a chance to briefly indulge his trademark fondness for quirky fantasy/dream sequences when Grant ponders his dilemma. Even with such a strong director and stars, however, the film could have been nothing more than moderately entertaining were it not for the solid, well-structured and above all funny screenplay that manages to hit the ball out of the park on almost every occasion. Add in a marvelous supporting cast and the professional polish supplied by the designers and technicians, and the result is a Wife that is a favorite indeed. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
Mark-Lee Kirk - Art Director, Van Nest Polglase - Art Director, Howard Greer - Costume Designer, James H. Anderson - First Assistant Director, Ruby Rosenberg - First Assistant Director, Garson Kanin - Director, Robert Wise - Editor, Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score), Rudolph Maté - Cinematographer, Leo McCarey - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Leo McCarey - Screenwriter, Bella Spewack - Screenwriter, Samuel Spewack - Screenwriter
My Favorite Wife (released in the U.K. as My Favourite Wife) is a 1940screwball comedy produced and co-written by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. The movie stars Irene Dunne as a woman who returns to her husband and children after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for several years, and Cary Grant as her husband. The story is an adaptation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden"; in tribute, the main characters' last name is Arden.
After seven years, lawyer Nick Arden (Cary Grant) has his wife Ellen (Irene Dunne), missing since her ship was lost, declared legally dead so he can marry Bianca (Gail Patrick). It turns out however that Ellen was merely shipwrecked on a deserted island, and has been rescued. When she returns home, she learns that Nick has just left on his honeymoon with his second wife.
When Ellen tracks him down before his honeymoon night, he is at a loss as to how to break the news to Bianca. He keeps putting off the unpleasant business. Meanwhile, Bianca becomes frustrated by Nick's odd behavior (especially the non-consummation of their marriage) and calls in a psychiatrist, Dr. Kohlmar (Pedro de Cordoba). Further complications ensue when an insurance adjuster (Hugh O'Connell) mentions to Nick a rumor that Ellen was not alone on the island, but had the company of a Stephen Burkett (Randolph Scott) and that they called each other "Adam" and "Eve". When Nick confronts Ellen, she recruits a mousy shoe salesman (an uncredited Chester Clute) to pretend to be Stephen, but Nick has already tracked the real, appallingly virile and handsome Stephen down.
Nick tries to explain the situation to Bianca and Dr. Kohlmar, but they do not believe him ... until he is arrested on a charge of bigamy. In court, Judge Bryson (Granville Bates), the same judge who had Ellen declared legally dead and also married Nick and Bianca, annuls the second marriage. By this time, Ellen is no longer sure of Nick's feelings for her. Stephen asks her to marry him and return with him to the island, but she still loves Nick. In the end, Nick and Ellen are reconciled.
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