The Perfect Marriage

There's a scene early on in The Perfect Marriage in which David Niven and Loretta Young are describing their meet-cute to their nine-year-old daughter, Nona Griffith. It's a ridiculous, unbelievable story, and I wondered if they were making it up to give Nona something outrageous to dream of, like a fairy tale. But no, it was real. They met ten years ago, shown in a flashback, when David Niven's house was on fire, and Loretta and her family were among the friends and neighbors helping haul buckets to put it out. Niven sees her beauty, puts his hose down and approaches her. Suddenly they get in an argument that lasts through the evening. Then, they both can't sleep and coincidentally meet in the kitchen. He grabs a chicken leg and criticizes the way she's playing her solitaire card game. Just as suddenly, they kiss and fall in love.

If that sounds ridiculous to you, you're not going to like this movie. The entire movie doesn't make sense. Niv and Loretta have been married for ten years, yet the fights they have sound like the kinds of fights newlyweds have. They act like they don't know each other at all, and their tactics to make each other jealous or mad are juvenile. Also, their daughter is far from endearing and overacts every line.

As much as I love David Niven, this isn't his best movie. The script is silly at best and irritating at worst. If the plot starred an engaged couple, their fights would have been more believable, but not a pair who've had ten years to get iron out their creases. Plus, I'm not really a Loretta Young fan. Had Myrna Loy been cast in this role, she might have saved the movie. When Loretta's snotty, she comes across as conceited. When Myrna's snotty, she's cute.