Today in 1940 saw the release of My Favorite Wife: Cary Grant's 36th full length film and his second film with Irene Dunne... first reviewed in my blog post on May 17, 2020 -see https://www.mylifeinayearwitharchie.com/2020/05/on-this-daymy-favorite-wife-1940.html .
Summary:
Missing for seven years and presumed dead, a woman returns home on the day of her husband's second marriage.
Cast:
Irene Dunne... Ellen Wagstaff ArdenCary Grant... Nick Arden
Randolph Scott... Stephen Burkett
Gail Patrick... Bianca Bates
Ann Shoemaker... Ma - Nick's Mother
Scotty Beckett... Tim - The Ardens' Son
Mary Lou Harrington... Chinch - the Ardens' Daughter
Donald MacBride... Hotel Clerk
Hugh O'Connell... Johnson - Insurance Adjuster
Granville Bates... Judge Bryson
Pedro de Cordoba... Dr. Kohlmar
Did You Know?
Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
Leo McCarey was supposed to direct My Favorite Wife, but shortly before the filming began, he was injured in an automobile accident and had to hand over the direction to Garson Kanin. Actress Gail Patrick has stated that the severity of McCarey's injuries had an effect on the film's cast, and they found it very difficult to enter into the spirit of the comedy with the serious hospital bulletins they were hearing.
Stephen Burkett: Well, your honor...
Nick Arden: Oh, he was on the island with her. He's not important to this case.
Judge Walter Bryson: I'll decide what's important to the case. What island?
Nick Arden: The island where my wife stayed for seven years, your honor.
Judge Walter Bryson: They were on an island together for seven years?
Nick Arden: Yes, your honor.
Judge Walter Bryson: Not alone?
Nick Arden: Yes.
Judge Walter Bryson: Hmm. Same island?
Nick Arden: Yes.
Judge Walter Bryson: Is that in the brief?
Nick Arden: No, your honor!
Judge Walter Bryson: Oh, that should be in the brief. That's the most interesting part of the case.
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."
Something's Got to Give was Marilyn Monroe's final, unfinished project and that version of this film featured Dean Martin in the Cary Grant role, and Cyd Charisse as the second wife. Some of the sets built for that version were "repurposed" for the Day/Garner film, Move Over Darling, after production on the Monroe/Martin movie was shut down due to Monroe's chronic tardiness and eventually abandoned when she died in August of 1962.
Quotes:
Judge Walter Bryson: Who are you?Stephen Burkett: Well, your honor...
Nick Arden: Oh, he was on the island with her. He's not important to this case.
Judge Walter Bryson: I'll decide what's important to the case. What island?
Nick Arden: The island where my wife stayed for seven years, your honor.
Judge Walter Bryson: They were on an island together for seven years?
Nick Arden: Yes, your honor.
Judge Walter Bryson: Not alone?
Nick Arden: Yes.
Judge Walter Bryson: Hmm. Same island?
Nick Arden: Yes.
Judge Walter Bryson: Is that in the brief?
Nick Arden: No, your honor!
Judge Walter Bryson: Oh, that should be in the brief. That's the most interesting part of the case.
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Oh, by the way, how was my funeral?
Ma: Lovely. Doctor Blake preached a wonderful service.
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Oh, I wish I had been there.
Ma: Lovely. Doctor Blake preached a wonderful service.
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Oh, I wish I had been there.
Hotel clerk: [as Nick and Ellen approach the front desk of the hotel] Yes?
Nick Arden: I'd like to have another room.
Hotel clerk: [surprised, due to the fact that Mr. Arden just booked another room with another woman - his wife] Hmm?...
[looks around while contemplating the seemingly odd situation]
Hotel clerk: Why certainly sir.
Nick Arden: Ah, thank you very much. Uh, is uh, is Suite A available?
Hotel clerk: Suite A?
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Yes, Suite A.
Hotel clerk: [dings the bell] Franz, Suite A. Uh, have you any luggage Miss uh...
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Oh yes I have, a ticket right here - if you'll just sign for it. It's at the airport.
Nick Arden: Airport.
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Thank you.
Nick Arden: Very much.
Hotel clerk: [in slight disbelief to the other hotel clerk after the couple walks away] What a man.
Nick Arden: I'd like to have another room.
Hotel clerk: [surprised, due to the fact that Mr. Arden just booked another room with another woman - his wife] Hmm?...
[looks around while contemplating the seemingly odd situation]
Hotel clerk: Why certainly sir.
Nick Arden: Ah, thank you very much. Uh, is uh, is Suite A available?
Hotel clerk: Suite A?
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Yes, Suite A.
Hotel clerk: [dings the bell] Franz, Suite A. Uh, have you any luggage Miss uh...
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Oh yes I have, a ticket right here - if you'll just sign for it. It's at the airport.
Nick Arden: Airport.
Ellen Wagstaff Arden aka Eve: Thank you.
Nick Arden: Very much.
Hotel clerk: [in slight disbelief to the other hotel clerk after the couple walks away] What a man.
Lobby Cards:
Directed by Garson Kanin.
Produced by RKO Radio
Running time: 88 minutes
Artwork by Rebekah Hawley of Studio 36.
No comments:
Post a Comment