This month the Museum of Modern Art in NYC is hosting a major retrospective of the films of director Leo McCarey. The series has brought a number of rarities to light, and one of the rarest of all is this early talkie feature made for Fox Films. MoMA's website describes it as a precursor to McCarey's 1937 screwball classic The Awful Truth, and there are indeed parallels, though the differences between the two films are more striking than the similarities. And while Part Time Wife is an interesting comedy-drama, now that I've seen it I'd say it's best regarded as an offbeat apprentice effort, a practice run for the far more polished, assured and entertaining work of the director's mature period.
Our lead players, in the roles corresponding to the ones later taken by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, are Edmund Lowe and Leila Hyams. They're a wealthy couple who've been together only a year or two. Lowe is Jim Murdock, an oil company executive under pressure because of deteriorating business conditions, while his wife Betty is an athlete, a well-known golf champion. When we first meet them their marriage has already gone sour, mainly because of Jim's bad temper. He's also jealous of his wife's friendship with a fellow golfer named Walter (Johnny Spence), although it's clear Betty has no intention of permitting the guy any liberties. The situation comes to a boil on the couple's anniversary, when they argue fiercely and decide to separate. Some months later, surprisingly, Jim takes up his wife's game of golf. An Irish boy named Tommy (Tommy Milligan) becomes his caddie. Gradually, the boy brings out Jim's more positive qualities. Eventually, largely through Tommy's influence, Jim and Betty reconcile.
It doesn't sound much like The Awful Truth, does it? The tone certainly is different. Although marital conflict is central to both films, the emphasis in Part Time Wife is on drama. Comic bits are surprisingly rare. Frankly, more comedy would have been welcome, especially in the opening sequences. In his first few scenes Jim is so persistently angry and unpleasant it's difficult to regard him as sympathetic. And although he becomes more human through his relationship with his cheerful young caddie, this point is blunted by an unfortunate casting choice: in the crucial role of Tommy, which would have been ideal for Jackie Cooper, child actor Tommy Milligan is inadequate. (This film marked Milligan's second and final screen appearance.) He hits his marks and delivers his lines, but doesn't really connect with the other actors, or with viewers. He's supposed to be charming, but the spark just isn't there. On top of that, while a convincing Irish brogue is admittedly difficult to pull off, Milligan's accent is not only inconsistent, but makes his dialog hard to understand.
The film's best scene, and the one most characteristic of McCarey, arrives around the mid-way point. Jim and Betty are still separated, but their feelings for one another begin to thaw when she returns home with him one evening, her first time back since the separation. They flirt, giggle, and sort of cuddle, then playfully chase each other from room to room. It's a delightful scene, and appears to be semi-improvised. (For me, it was also the only scene genuinely reminiscent of The Awful Truth.) However, the reconciliation is chilled when Jim discovers that Betty has supported herself by posing for magazine ads, a couple of which are mildly suggestive. Once again, he comes off as a grouch, and a prude to boot. Cary Grant might have made this character bearable, but while Lowe does a perfectly good job, his Jim Murdock is awfully hard to like.
Our high spirits are chilled even further by a subsequent, unexpected plot twist. After a regrettable fracas on the golf links, Tommy's beloved dog runs away. He's picked up by the dog catcher, taken to the pound, and, with several other unfortunate strays, tossed into a chamber to be gassed. Jim and Tommy race to the pound, but appear to arrive too late. McCarey stretches the suspense to the breaking point and beyond, and gives us a horrible shot of Jim emerging from the chamber, looking stricken, carrying the dog's limp form. Tommy is sobbing his eyes out when—surprise!—it's revealed that his dog miraculously survived the gassing. (If only life could be like this.) I have to say, I hated this sequence. I found it distasteful on a personal level, as I resent having my own tears jerked in such a crude fashion. Where tone is concerned, it throws this already uneven film way off balance. Is Part Time Wife a romantic comedy? A drama of marital conflict? A promo for the healing powers of the game of golf? Or is it a melodrama about an orphan who almost loses his dog to a cruel fate? The fact is, it's a combination of all the above, but unfortunately the whole of Part Time Wife is not greater than the sum of its parts. It's a curio, and an interesting step in the evolution of a gifted director, but not in itself a satisfying work. I could cheerfully return to The Awful Truth any time, but wouldn't willingly sit through this film again.
P.S. But man, I'll tell you something, I sure am glad that dog was okay.
Our lead players, in the roles corresponding to the ones later taken by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, are Edmund Lowe and Leila Hyams. They're a wealthy couple who've been together only a year or two. Lowe is Jim Murdock, an oil company executive under pressure because of deteriorating business conditions, while his wife Betty is an athlete, a well-known golf champion. When we first meet them their marriage has already gone sour, mainly because of Jim's bad temper. He's also jealous of his wife's friendship with a fellow golfer named Walter (Johnny Spence), although it's clear Betty has no intention of permitting the guy any liberties. The situation comes to a boil on the couple's anniversary, when they argue fiercely and decide to separate. Some months later, surprisingly, Jim takes up his wife's game of golf. An Irish boy named Tommy (Tommy Milligan) becomes his caddie. Gradually, the boy brings out Jim's more positive qualities. Eventually, largely through Tommy's influence, Jim and Betty reconcile.
It doesn't sound much like The Awful Truth, does it? The tone certainly is different. Although marital conflict is central to both films, the emphasis in Part Time Wife is on drama. Comic bits are surprisingly rare. Frankly, more comedy would have been welcome, especially in the opening sequences. In his first few scenes Jim is so persistently angry and unpleasant it's difficult to regard him as sympathetic. And although he becomes more human through his relationship with his cheerful young caddie, this point is blunted by an unfortunate casting choice: in the crucial role of Tommy, which would have been ideal for Jackie Cooper, child actor Tommy Milligan is inadequate. (This film marked Milligan's second and final screen appearance.) He hits his marks and delivers his lines, but doesn't really connect with the other actors, or with viewers. He's supposed to be charming, but the spark just isn't there. On top of that, while a convincing Irish brogue is admittedly difficult to pull off, Milligan's accent is not only inconsistent, but makes his dialog hard to understand.
The film's best scene, and the one most characteristic of McCarey, arrives around the mid-way point. Jim and Betty are still separated, but their feelings for one another begin to thaw when she returns home with him one evening, her first time back since the separation. They flirt, giggle, and sort of cuddle, then playfully chase each other from room to room. It's a delightful scene, and appears to be semi-improvised. (For me, it was also the only scene genuinely reminiscent of The Awful Truth.) However, the reconciliation is chilled when Jim discovers that Betty has supported herself by posing for magazine ads, a couple of which are mildly suggestive. Once again, he comes off as a grouch, and a prude to boot. Cary Grant might have made this character bearable, but while Lowe does a perfectly good job, his Jim Murdock is awfully hard to like.
Our high spirits are chilled even further by a subsequent, unexpected plot twist. After a regrettable fracas on the golf links, Tommy's beloved dog runs away. He's picked up by the dog catcher, taken to the pound, and, with several other unfortunate strays, tossed into a chamber to be gassed. Jim and Tommy race to the pound, but appear to arrive too late. McCarey stretches the suspense to the breaking point and beyond, and gives us a horrible shot of Jim emerging from the chamber, looking stricken, carrying the dog's limp form. Tommy is sobbing his eyes out when—surprise!—it's revealed that his dog miraculously survived the gassing. (If only life could be like this.) I have to say, I hated this sequence. I found it distasteful on a personal level, as I resent having my own tears jerked in such a crude fashion. Where tone is concerned, it throws this already uneven film way off balance. Is Part Time Wife a romantic comedy? A drama of marital conflict? A promo for the healing powers of the game of golf? Or is it a melodrama about an orphan who almost loses his dog to a cruel fate? The fact is, it's a combination of all the above, but unfortunately the whole of Part Time Wife is not greater than the sum of its parts. It's a curio, and an interesting step in the evolution of a gifted director, but not in itself a satisfying work. I could cheerfully return to The Awful Truth any time, but wouldn't willingly sit through this film again.
P.S. But man, I'll tell you something, I sure am glad that dog was okay.
