MY FAVORITE WIFE (RKO 1940) Warner Home Video

Cary Grant’s ascendance in Hollywood, as the impossible handsome and suave leading man who never quite took himself too seriously – thus, to have made Grant even more a charmer and stud – his on-screen persona to be immediately confused with the man himself, reached an apex in Garson Kanin’s My Favorite Wife (1940); the delightfully obtuse romantic comedy that re-teamed Grant with Irene Dunne. The two had previously sparkled in Leo McCarey’s screwball classic The Awful Truth (1937) and would go on to break hearts in Penny Serenade (1941). My Favorite Wife is perhaps the last truly memorable screwball comedy to emerge from Hollywood – the mood, after Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, having darkened audiences’ verve for such effervescent froth on the movie screen. And, in point of fact, My Favorite Wife is a lithe and lovely little bobble that seems infinitely better suited to the mid-thirties cycle of devil-may-care classics; Grant and Dunne, playing the comedy here with great restraint and more than a kernel of sincerity and truth. Working from a screenplay by Bella and Sam Spewack, and, McCarey, My Favorite Wife delves into inspired farce. On this occasion, Grant is cast as Nick Arden – a handsome widower who is preparing to remarry after the death of his first wife, Ellen (Dunne). One problem – Ellen isn’t dead. In fact, she is one of two survivors recently rescued from a remote island after the ship she was sailing on six-years earlier capsized during a violent storm.

Naturally, this puts a definite crimp in Nick’s plans to remarry. His choice of second mate is the slinky man trap, Bianca Bates (Gail Patrick). Realizing he still loves Ellen, and, therefore, cannot commit to his new marriage, Nick is also driven to distraction when he learns Ellen had been keeping company on the island with a paragon of viral masculinity; Stephen Burkett (Randolph Scott at his he-man best). Interesting here, to pause and reconsider Grant and Scott shared a home in Santa Monica during this tenure in their respective careers – a practice, not uncommon as some struggling stars aspired to more fashionable digs, yet, that for some reason in Grant’s case, raised more than a few eyebrows and would, in later decades, resurface as the brunt of jokes to suggest Grant and Scott had been intimate in their relations – sharing more than a house. Such rumors have long-since been dispelled by Grant’s former wives; all of whom acknowledge that the actor was far too busy satisfying them sexually to be embroiled in a homosexual tryst. Whatever the truth, knowing this back story adds a picaresque quality to the brewing jealousy Nick feels towards Stephen in My Favorite Wife – at one point, Nick, haunted by the image of a shirtless Stephen doing cartwheels in his imagination.

Stephen makes no bones about his intentions toward Ellen – though the film infers no such thoughts of hanky-panky even entered Ellen’s mind during their six-years in isolation. In fact, Stephen could not be more delighted to find Nick on the verge of remarrying. He pursues Ellen with considerable prowess and dexterity – she, occasionally reciprocating his advances, though only to illicit a heightened sense of annoyance from her husband. Repeatedly delaying his engagement to Bianca creates a rift in his new romance, and indeed, one Nick cannot deny any longer. He loves Ellen and Bianca eventually comes to realize this too. It’s no use. Thus, Nick and Ellen are reunited in marital bliss – well, sort of…the couple recognizing that no matter the passage of time, some things will never change. Daffy and delightful, My Favorite Wife keeps its humor light and airy. The chemistry between Dunne and Grant is both palpable and charming. It is a genuine pity they did not make more movies together. Usually cast as the stalwart cowboy or unscrupulous villain, Scott proves his adeptness as a rival for the leading man in this featherweight comedy, with an appeal that sadly was never entirely exploited by the studios. In 1962, 2oth Century-Fox purchased the screen rights to remake My Favorite Wife as Something’s Gotta Give; a picture to have starred Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. Tragically, Monroe’s chronic delays on the set, culminating in her apparent overdose and suicide before completing the picture, necessitated a revamp; the picture eventually recast with Doris Day and released as the disposable little nothing, Move Over Darling (1963).

Warner Home Video’s DVD is fairly clean and consistent. The result of some digital restoration, the B&W image exhibits appealing tonality, though occasionally some scenes suffer from boosted contrast. Fine details are adequately realized. Grain toggles between smooth and gritty and there are some rather obvious age-related artifacts during transitional fades and dissolves. Contrast waffles between adequate to just below par, a few scenes appearing downright anemic. The audio is Dolby Digital 1.0 mono as originally recorded and presented at an adequate listening level with minimal hiss and pop. Extras are limited to a short subject and theatrical trailer. Recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

4

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

1