He Married His Wife (1940)

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Erna Lazarus (story) and
Scott Darling (story) ...

Release Date:

19 January 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Race horse owner pays so much attention to business he winds up divorced from his wife. His alimony...

Plot Keywords:

Alimony | Lawyer | Sleep Walk | Racetrack | Mayor

Cast

Joel McCrea	...	T.H. 'Randy' Randall
Nancy Kelly	...	Valerie Randall
Roland Young	...	Bill Carter
Mary Boland	...	Ethel Hilary
Cesar Romero	...	Freddie
Mary Healy	...	Doris
Lyle Talbot	...	Paul Hunter
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Dickie Brown
Barnett Parker	...	Huggins - Hilary's Butler

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #5790) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Hoover Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The current print shown on the Fox Movie Channel (FMC) has no end credits. The AFI Catalogue lists additional credited cast, indicating they viewed a print with end credits. Added, in the following order, were Harry Hayden, Charles C. Wilson (as Charles Wilson), Charles D. Brown, Spencer Charters, Leyland Hodgson and William Edmunds.

Quotes:

Bill Carter: If you never saw him before, why'd you let him kiss you?
Ethel Hillary: Well, after all, Bill, there is such a thing as hospitality.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Meet Me After the Show (1951)

Soundtrack:

Was It You There in My Arms?

Pleasant cast in weak screwball comedy...

Not all screwball comedies of the '40s are worth bothering about and this one goes to the top of the list in that category.

Poor JOEL McCREA and NANCY KELLY head a pleasant enough cast, but they have their work cut out for them. The silly script is something about a broad-minded man who's unable to pay alimony to his wife but foolishly goes along on a week-end trip to the country where he tries to play Cupid in getting her together with two men (LYLE TALBOT and CESAR ROMERO) who are crazy about her. If that makes sense, give me a clue.

MARY BOLAND is the country hostess who flutters around like an imitation of her character in THE WOMEN. ROLAND YOUNG has a few wry remarks to make, but NANCY KELLY is almost insufferably coy and arch as the exasperated heroine.

This is supposed to be wildly funny but the situations are all very artificial and most of the punch lines fall flat. The only compensation is seeing the attractive JOEL McCREA at his handsome best, playing it straight and not seeming to mind the hopelessly contrived script he's caught up in. He and CESAR ROMERO have the most luck with their hapless roles.

Only for fans of '40s screwball comedies that are easily amused.