{"id":15916,"date":"2011-02-11T17:14:57","date_gmt":"2011-02-12T00:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15916"},"modified":"2021-01-11T00:31:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T07:31:30","slug":"my-favorite-wife-1940","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15916","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite Wife (1940)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Make up your mind, old man: you&#8217;re not allowed to have two wives, you know!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Poster-212x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-47303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Poster-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Poster-91x128.jpg 91w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Poster.jpg 708w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA man (Cary Grant) whose shipwrecked wife (Irene Dunne) is presumed dead finds his second marriage (to Gail Patrick) disrupted by the sudden reappearance of Dunne &#8212; and the man (Randolph Scott) she spent the past seven years on a deserted island with.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cary Grant Films<\/li>\n<li>Irene Dunne Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Newlyweds<\/li>\n<li>Randolph Scott Films<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary notes that this romantic repairing of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant &#8212; who had starred together with &#8220;great success&#8221; in Leo McCarey&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11333\"><em>The Awful Truth<\/em> (1937)<\/a>, and later reteamed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15808\"><em>Penny Serenade<\/em> (1941)<\/a> &#8212; is a &#8220;sprightly but slight marital farce&#8221;. While the film &#8220;starts out extremely well&#8221; (how could it not, based on such a delicious scenario?):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter-1024x781.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"488\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter-1024x781.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter-768x586.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter-354x270.png 354w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Dunne-Daughter.png 1367w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>it unfortunately &#8220;never rises from amusing to hilarious&#8221;; instead, the &#8220;marital game-playing becomes far-fetched and tedious, and too much of the humor comes at the expense of characters who are being treated rotten&#8221;. Indeed, poor &#8220;Patrick, in particular, gets unfair treatment&#8221;, mostly due to the underdeveloped arc of her character; she&#8217;s never really given much of a chance for sympathy, and is dismissed far too easily as merely a nuisance to be gotten rid of. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick-1024x764.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"478\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick-1024x764.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick-768x573.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick-362x270.png 362w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Grant-Patrick.png 1369w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Making much more of a <em>splash<\/em> (literally!):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1-1024x782.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"489\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1-1024x782.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1-768x587.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1-353x270.png 353w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott-1.png 1355w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>is &#8220;muscular, virile&#8221; Randolph Scott as Dunne&#8217;s shipwrecked compatriot, who insists that things remained strictly <u>platonic<\/u> between them during their entire seven years on an island together. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4-1024x764.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"478\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4-1024x764.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4-768x573.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4-362x270.png 362w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott4.png 1377w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Uh-huh. This is just as quaint as Dunne believing that if she makes it to the hotel before newlyweds Grant and Patrick arrive, she can safely salvage the &#8220;situation&#8221;. And speaking of &#8220;situations&#8221;, it is interesting, as Peary notes, that &#8220;while Dunne forgives Grant for romancing and marrying Patrick, he has trouble coming to terms with her being stranded for seven years with&#8230; Scott&#8221;. At any rate, it&#8217;s primarily &#8220;the charm of the stars&#8221; that &#8220;carries the picture to its&#8230; conclusion&#8221; &#8212; with the final &#8220;bedroom scene&#8221; coming across as a weak attempt to replicate the hilarious sexiness of <em>The Awful Truth<\/em>&#8216;s comparable ending.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2-1024x775.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"484\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2-1024x775.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2-300x227.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2-768x581.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2-357x270.png 357w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Finale2.png 1363w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: Somewhat notoriously, <em>My Favorite Wife<\/em> was in the process of being remade with Marilyn Monroe as <em>Something&#8217;s Got to Give<\/em> in 1962, but was never completed; instead, it was officially remade with Doris Day and James Garner in 1963 as <em>Move Over, Darling<\/em> (a title not listed in Peary&#8217;s book). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Randolph Scott as Steve<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3-1024x777.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"486\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3-1024x777.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3-300x228.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3-768x583.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3-356x270.png 356w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/My-Favorite-Wife-Scott3.png 1367w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some amusingly handled dialogue:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Grant (to buff Randolph):<\/strong> &#8220;Do you ride in cabs or just trot along beside?&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s certainly worth one-time viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0029284\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1940\/05\/31\/archives\/the-screen-my-favorite-wife-a-lively-farce-with-cary-grant-and.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/1148\/my-favorite-wife#articles-reviews?articleId=21369\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Make up your mind, old man: you&#8217;re not allowed to have two wives, you know!&#8221; Synopsis: A man (Cary Grant) whose shipwrecked wife (Irene Dunne) is presumed dead finds his second marriage (to Gail Patrick) disrupted by the sudden reappearance of Dunne &#8212; and the man (Randolph Scott) she spent the past seven years on a deserted island with. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Cary Grant Films Irene Dunne Films Love Triangle Marital Problems Newlyweds Randolph Scott Films Romantic Comedy&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15916\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15916"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62865,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15916\/revisions\/62865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}