My Favorite Wife
by Garson Kanin
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DVD details
Actor: Grant Cary, Irene DunneDirector: Garson Kanin
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Writer: Bella Spewack
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: T6749
Studio: Turner Home Ent
DVD Reviews of My Favorite Wife
DVD Review: "I bet you say that to all your wives."
Summary: 4 Stars
Some may be surprised at my reviewing a film like this, as the movies I usually review tend to fall into the science fiction and horror genres, but I do enjoy all kinds of films, especially romantic comedies from Hollywood's golden age. There's something about films from 30's and 40's that I don't often see in movies today, and I would define it as class. Characters in these old films often exuded a suave, sophisticated demeanor you rarely see in contemporary releases...maybe it had something to do with the now defunct studio system in those days, one that always tried to promote it's contract actors in the best possible light, cultivating and protecting them like the valuable commodities they were, elevating their status to a level usually reserved for royalty. Nowadays, every wart, blemish, and pimple, metaphorically speaking, is exposed (remember not so long ago when Hugh Grant got caught in that tryst with that rather seedy street walker? Fifty years ago the general public would have never heard about it), revealing the stars of today are a lot like us, except for the fame and fortune...but I digress...My Favorite Wife (1940), directed by Garson Kanin (They Knew What They Wanted), reunites the stars of the earlier film, The Awful Truth (1937), Cary Grant (Arsenic and Old Lace, Notorious), and Irene Dunne (Show Boat). Also appearing is Randolph Scott (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), Gail Patrick (My Man Godfrey), and character actors Donald MacBride (The Thin Man Goes Home) and Granville Bates (Of Mice and Men).
The film opens with Nick Arden (Grant) appearing in court, attempting to have his wife, Ellen (Dunne) who's been missing for the past seven years, declared legally dead, so that he may remarry. Seems Ellen signed on an expedition as a photographer, and the ship she was traveling on was lost at sea. Well, the very day Nick convinces the court to declare her dead and marries his new wife (Patrick), a very alive Ellen reappears determined to regain her old life back (she was stranded on a island, but was able to flag down an errant ship) and Nick now must face the fact that he's an unintentional bigamist. It's obvious Nick's still in love with Ellen, but just can't seem to muster the nerve to tell his new bride that his old wife has come back. And then there's also a bit of an obstacle in that of the very handsome Stephen Burkett (Scott), also a member of the ill-fated expedition, and the man Ellen shared her island with the past seven years, and, as you may have already guessed, has the hots for Ellen...oh dear, what a mess...
Let's face it, you really can't go wrong with a Cary Grant comedy, and My Favorite Wife is no exception. The main brunt of the comedy comes from Grant's character's unease at breaking the news to his bride (she seems the high maintenance type, the kind men would normally acquiesce to rather than deal with the inevitable confrontation) about the return of his once thought deceased wife, with whom he's still deeply in love with...Grant plays the role of the seemingly normal man, who knows what he wants, but just not how to go about getting it, thrust into a downward spiral of confusion and comedic perplexity trying to adjust to an outlandishly complex situation that only gets worse as he attempts to pull himself out. The very attractive Dunne also plays her role very well as the genial, confident woman determined to pick up where she left off, believing in her heart the complexities of the situation will resolve themselves in her favor, but feeling the growing uncertainty that her husband will find the resolve to do what she knows he feels in his heart to be right. The scene where she finally brings herself to reveal her identity to her young children (she was gone for seven years, so they were too young to remember her) is very sweet, but deftly avoids the schmaltz one would see in a lesser film. These two, talented actors really work well together, giving the impression of a perfect pairing whether on or off the screen, and showing a level of familiarity that obviously comes from prior, on screen couplings. Other performances worth mentioning are that of Donald MacBride as the somewhat accommodating but soon morally flustered hotel clerk (Ellen shows up just prior to Nick and his new bride checking in for their honeymoon), and curmudgeonly Granville Bates as the flummoxed judge trying to sort the whole mess out. I guess the only problem I have with the film, an issued shared by at least a few other people, is it just feels a bit light. The actors flesh their characters out as much as the screenplay allows, and do it well, but the underlying material seemed a bit skimpy. A perfect example is Randolph Scott's character...he seemed more of just a hollow plot device rather than an integral part of the story, and his impact is felt so little that when not on screen, he's pretty much forgotten. I can't help but wonder how audiences received the material within the film, specifically the whole `bigamy' angle, if there was some level of concern from a moral standpoint. I thought the story handled it in an unlikely manner, but certainly possible one.
The black and white, full screen, original aspect ratio picture (1.37:1) looks really sharp, despite a few, very minor flaws. The audio is also very clear, and comes through well. Provided are some interesting special features including a Screen Director's Playhouse radio production featuring Grant and Dunne, a theatrical trailer for the film, and an entertaining comic short titled Home Movies featuring popular (at the time, at least) journalist/humorist/comedian Robert Benchley. All in all, I wouldn't necessarily consider this to be one of Grant's best films, but it's still pretty darn good and definitely worth seeing.
Cookieman108
Description of My Favorite Wife
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