Merry Wives of Reno (1934)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

H. Bruce Humberstone

Writers:

Robert Lord (story)
Joe Traub (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

12 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Fur Coat | Ruse | Alimony | Drunkenness | Sheep

Cast

Guy Kibbee	...	Tom Fraser
Glenda Farrell	...	Bunny Fitch
Donald Woods	...	Frank Hammond
Margaret Lindsay	...	Madge Hammond
Hugh Herbert	...	Colonel J. Kingsley Fitch
Frank McHugh	...	Al
Ruth Donnelly	...	Lois Fraser
Roscoe Ates	...	The Trapper
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Oliver Derwent

Runtime:

USA:64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Three cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Dick Powell (Customer), Irving Bacon (Cook) and Inez Palange (Italian Woman). Since Richard Powell is in the cast, it is most likely the listing of Dick Powell refers to him, since he is a Bar Customer.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Newsreel (1934)

Wry, Cynical, Hilarious

Like other Warner Brothers comedies of the early 30s, pacing and sarcasm make this film. Here, it's the wry take on why marriages succeed or fail that makes the movie so funny. Never mind love, communication, or fidelity. What makes or breaks a marriage is how willing you are to admit you're an idiot too. So funny and so true-- just thinking about the premise makes me laugh. The acting is very good, the script, with asides too funny and too numerous to trivialize out of context, is even better. There is a whole philosophy here, a whole view of life that dispenses with the psychobabble prominent even then in a storm of hastily delivered truths. Slapstick abounds, although the sophisticated wit is the best thing about this movie.