How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

A dedicated bachelor drunkenly marries a young woman and immediately lives to regret it.

Director:

Richard Quine

Writer:

George Axelrod

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi, Terry-Thomas

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Stanley Ford
Virna Lisi	...	Mrs. Ford
Terry-Thomas	...	Charles
Eddie Mayehoff	...	Harold Lampson
Claire Trevor	...	Edna
Sidney Blackmer	...	Judge Blackstone
Max Showalter	...	Tobey Rawlins
Jack Albertson	...	Dr. Bentley
Mary Wickes	...	Harold's Secretary
Alan Hewitt	...	District Attorney
Barry Kelley	...	Club Member in Steam Room
William Bryant	...	Construction Worker (as Bill Bryant)
Charles Bateman	...	Club Member in Steam Room
Edward Faulkner	...	Club Member in Steam Room / Party Guest
Lauren Gilbert	...	Men's Club Manager

Storyline

Stanley Ford leads an idyllic bachelor life. He is a nationally syndicated cartoonist whose Bash Brannigan series provides him with a luxury townhouse and a full-time valet, Charles. When he wakes up the morning after the night before - he had attended a friend's stag party - he finds that he is married to the very beautiful woman who popped out of the cake - and who doesn't speak a word of English. Despite his initial protestations, he comes to like married life and even changes his cartoon character from a super spy to a somewhat harried husband. When after several months he decides to kill off Bash's wife in the cartoon, his wife misinterprets his intentions and disappears. Which leads the police to charge him with murder.

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Plot Keywords:

comic book artist | misogyny | misogynist | scheme | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

This Motion Picture is Presented as a Public Service

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

26 January 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cómo asesinar a su esposa

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Murder Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During a taping of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), Jack Lemmon told this story. Prior to starting the film, the husband of co-star Virna Lisi made her promise that she would not be talked into doing a nude scene in her first American film. She assured him that she would not, signed the contract and traveled to Hollywood. While filming the "revelation" scene, where Lemmon awakens to discover in horror that he had gotten married at the bachelor party, she had to disrobe and lay in the bed nude but discreetly covered with a sheet. However, it was this day that her husband, an architect, arrived unannounced at the set to surprise his wife. When he walked into the scene, he became very upset. He focused his anger toward Lemmon who, realizing that discretion was the better part of valor, exited the set at full speed with Virna's husband in tow. Running past several sound stages on the MGM lot, he quickly found a garbage dumpster, jumped in and closed the cover. He waited there until security officers found him.

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Goofs

In the opening scenes, the same woman in a red skirt and black top can be seen walking past Stanley's house (left to right) twice - firstly when Charles is collecting the newspaper and then when Charles and Stanley are leaving in the car.

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Quotes

Stanley Ford: Here you are in the prime of life. A handsome figure of a man, successful in business, adored by one and all. In fact, it could be said that you had it made, except for the one thing.
Harold Lampson: I'm a lousy lawyer, huh?
Stanley Ford: [scoffs] No, you're married.
Harold Lampson: Yeah, but being married is the normal way to live. Isn't it?
Stanley Ford: Who says so?
Harold Lampson: Edna?
Stanley Ford: Oh Harold, I think you've been brainwashed. You're missing a very important point: marriage is not a basic fact of nature, it's an invention. It's like the infield fly rule; it ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

At first, it only says How to Your Wife on the screen, in white letters. Then, the word Murder shows up in red letters in the space between the two rows of text.

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Connections

Referenced in I Dream of Jeannie: The Moving Finger (1965)

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Soundtracks

Happy Days Are Here Again
(uncredited)
Music by Milton Ager
Lyrics by Jack Yellen

User Reviews

The Moralist Conclusion Ruins the Storyline

The confirmed bachelor Stanley Ford (Jack Lemmon) is a successful cartoonist of the comic strip Bash Brannigan published in 463 newspaper. He lives in Manhattan with his butler Charles (Terry-Thomas), who is proud of his master´s lifestyle. One day, Stanley attends a bachelor party where he drinks too much. On the next morning, there is a ravishing Italian blonde (Virna Lisi) naked in his bed and soon he learns that he got married with her last night. Stanley heads to his lawyer´s office to divorce Mrs. Ford but his lawyer Harold Lampson (Eddie Mayehoff) advises that it is not an easy task. Stanley´s life turns upside-down, and he plots to murder his wife. When Mrs. Ford learns his intention, she vanishes and Stanley is accused of murdering his wife and hiding her body. What will happen to him?

"How to Murder Your Wife" is a funny 1965 comedy that makes the male viewer laugh of the situations. Jack Lemmon performs a confirmed bachelor and male chauvinist. Virna Lisi is extremely beautiful and sexy and disturbs his controlled life. The moralist conclusion ruins the storyline and is absolutely inconsistent to Stanley Ford´s behavior. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Como Matar Sua Esposa" ("How to Murder Your Wife")