Misbehaving Husbands (1940)

The owner of a department store is threatened with divorce by his wife, who has gotten reports that he's been seen in the arms of a beautiful blonde on the night of their 20th wedding anniversary. He has to find a way to convince her that the "beautiful blonde" in question was actually a store mannequin that he was taking in for repairs.

Director:

William Beaudine

Writers:

Cea Sabin (original story), Vernon Smith (screenplay),

Stars:

Harry Langdon, Betty Blythe, Ralph Byrd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harry Langdon	...	Henry Butler
Betty Blythe	...	Effie Butler
Ralph Byrd	...	Bob Grant
Esther Muir	...	Grace Norman
Gayne Whitman	...	Gilbert Wayne
Florence Wright	...	Nan Blake
Luana Walters	...	Jane Forbes
Frank Jaquet	...	Wilbur Drake
Charlotte Treadway	...	Clara Drake
Gig Young	...	Floor Walker (as Byron Barr)
Frank Hagney	...	Gooch Mulligan
Hennie Brown	...	Opal
Billy Mitchell	...	Memphis
Fred Kelsey	...	Sgt. Murphy
Mary MacLaren	...	Gossiping Friend

Storyline

The owner of a department store is threatened with divorce by his wife, who has gotten reports that he's been seen in the arms of a beautiful blonde on the night of their 20th wedding anniversary. He has to find a way to convince her that the "beautiful blonde" in question was actually a store mannequin that he was taking in for repairs.

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Plot Keywords:

mannequin | divorce | anniversary | department store | impersonation | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dummy Husbands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in 15 days.

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Connections

References Gone with the Wind (1939)

User Reviews

For Harry Langdon Fans

This is a slight comedy about a sleazy divorce lawyer and mistaken identity adultery from low budget studio Monogram, directed by its ace "One Shot" William Beaudine. His films generally range from mediocre to tolerable. This one is in the tolerable range.

It would not be worth watching except that this is one of the few feature films that Harry Langdon did in the last 15 years of his career. He was in about 50 shorts and had a half dozen supporting roles, but Harry was only featured in four or five films during the sound era.

Langdon had the most tragic career of the four Hollywood silent screen greats, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Harry Langdon. Chaplin and Lloyd were always regarded as geniuses. Keaton was rediscovered and celebrated ten years before he died. Only Langdon was forgotten and died in obscurity at age 60 in 1945.

Despite terrible second rate material, shot quickly at a third rate studio, Langdon manages to be funny in every scene he is in. Notice the scene at the end where he comes out of a bar after having one drink. This two minute scene has almost nothing to do with the plot, but Langdon is just hilarious improvising and riffing on his own.

This is a skip-it for anyone else, but a must-see for Langdon and slapstick comedy fans.