My Favorite Wife
Encyclopedia
My Favorite Wife is a 1940
screwball 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.
) 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.
, Best Score
and Best Art Direction
by Van Nest Polglase
and Mark-Lee Kirk
.
began filming a 1962 remake starring Marilyn Monroe
, Dean Martin
, and Cyd Charisse
under the working title of Something's Got to Give
, which was to be directed by George Cukor
. There were problems from the beginning, mostly due to Monroe's failure to show up on time for work. Monroe was fired and Martin backed out when the studio attempted to recast Monroe's role with Lee Remick
. Following Monroe's death in August 1962, Doris Day
and James Garner
were cast, and the new version was released by Fox as Move Over, Darling
(1963
).
1940 in film
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
produced and co-written by Leo McCarey
Leo McCarey
Thomas Leo McCarey was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. During his lifetime he was involved in nearly 200 movies, especially comedies...
and directed by Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin was a prolific American writer and director of plays and films.-Film and stage career:...
. The movie stars Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
as a woman who returns to her husband and children after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for several years, and Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
as her husband. The story is an adaptation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden
Enoch Arden
"Enoch Arden" is a narrative poem published in 1864 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, during his tenure as England's Poet Laureate. The story on which it was based was provided to Tennyson by Thomas Woolner....
"; in tribute, the main characters' last name is Arden.
Plot
After seven years, lawyer Nick Arden (Cary GrantCary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
) has his wife Ellen (Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
), missing since her ship was lost, declared legally dead
Death in absentia
Death in absentia is a legal declaration that a person is deceased in the absence of remains attributable to that person...
so he can marry Bianca (Gail Patrick
Gail Patrick
Gail Patrick was an American film actress.Born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, she appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's extremely formidable rival; some of these roles include the second wife in My Favorite Wife with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's...
). 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
Pedro de Cordoba
Pedro de Cordoba , was an American actor.Pedro de Cordoba, who appeared in his first film, a 1915 version of Carmen, was actually a classically trained theatre actor who confessed he did not enjoy appearing in silent films nearly as much as he liked working on stage...
). 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
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
) and that they called each other "Adam" and "Eve". When Nick confronts Ellen, she recruits a mousy shoe salesman (an uncredited Chester Clute
Chester Clute
Chester Clute , was an American actor familiar in scores of Hollywood films from his debut in 1930. Diminutive, bald-pated with a bristling moustache, he appeared in mostly unbilled roles, consisting usually of one or two lines, in nearly 250 films. He died of a heart attack aged 65...
) 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
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
. 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.
Cast
- Irene DunneIrene DunneIrene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
as Ellen Wagstaff Arden - Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
as Nick Arden - Randolph ScottRandolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
as Stephen Burkett - Gail PatrickGail PatrickGail Patrick was an American film actress.Born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, she appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's extremely formidable rival; some of these roles include the second wife in My Favorite Wife with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's...
as Bianca Bates - Ann Shoemaker as Ma, Nick's mother
- Scotty BeckettScotty BeckettScott Hastings "Scotty" Beckett was an American child actor. He starred in the Our Gang and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger series.-Early career:...
as Tim, the Ardens' son - Mary Lou Harrington as Chinch, the Ardens' daughter
- Donald MacBrideDonald MacBrideDonald MacBride was an American character actor on stage, in films and on TV who launched his career as a teenage singer in vaudeville and went on to be an actor on Broadway. He appeared in nearly 140 films between 1914 and 1955...
as Hotel clerk - Hugh O'Connell as Johnson, the insurance adjuster
- Granville Bates as Judge Bryson
- Pedro de CordobaPedro de CordobaPedro de Cordoba , was an American actor.Pedro de Cordoba, who appeared in his first film, a 1915 version of Carmen, was actually a classically trained theatre actor who confessed he did not enjoy appearing in silent films nearly as much as he liked working on stage...
as Dr. Kohlmar
Awards
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best StoryAcademy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
, Best Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
by Van Nest Polglase
Van Nest Polglase
Van Nest Polglase was an American art director. He was nominated for six Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction. Best remembered as head of the design department at RKO Pictures, he worked on 333 films between 1925 and 1957.He was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in Los Angeles,...
and Mark-Lee Kirk
Mark-Lee Kirk
Mark-Lee Kirk was an American art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction. He worked on 52 films between 1936 and 1959.-Selected filmography:...
.
Remake
20th Century Fox20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
began filming a 1962 remake starring Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, and Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...
under the working title of Something's Got to Give
Something's Got to Give
Something's Got to Give is an unfinished 1962 American feature film, directed by George Cukor and starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse...
, which was to be directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
. There were problems from the beginning, mostly due to Monroe's failure to show up on time for work. Monroe was fired and Martin backed out when the studio attempted to recast Monroe's role with Lee Remick
Lee Remick
Lee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder , Days of Wine and Roses , and The Omen .-Early life:...
. Following Monroe's death in August 1962, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
and James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
were cast, and the new version was released by Fox as Move Over, Darling
Move Over, Darling
Move Over, Darling is a 1963 remake of the 1940 screwball comedy My Favorite Wife that starred Irene Dunne, Cary Grant and Gail Patrick. The remake stars Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen.-Plot:...
(1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
).
See also
- Too Many HusbandsToo Many HusbandsToo Many Husbands is a 1940 romantic comedy film about a woman who loses her husband in a boating accident and remarries, only to have her first spouse reappear. The film stars Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray and Melvyn Douglas, and is based on the 1919 play "Home and Beauty" by W. Somerset Maugham...
(1940), a film with a very similar plot (with the sexes reversed) that was released less than two months earlier.