MY FAVORITE WIFE is another Cary Grant comedy. (One of my daughters has quite a few of Grant’s movies on DVD.) In this one, his scientist wife has vanished seven years earlier during an expedition to the South Seas, and he has her declared legally dead so that he can marry another woman he’s met since his wife’s disappearance. Wouldn’t you know it, that’s the same day his wife, played by Irene Dunne, shows up again after having been marooned on an island for the past seven years with handsome and athletic Randolph Scott.
With a set-up like that, you have to expect some mildly risque dialogue (very mild!), a lot of going in and of doors, and some deception and mistaken identities. The humor is of the gently whimsical variety for the most part, although Grant provides a few laugh-out-loud moments. Nobody was ever better at charming befuddlement. I’m not much of an Irene Dunne fan, though, and kept thinking, “Man, this would be a better movie with somebody like Kate Hepburn in the role.” In fact, the whole film could have done with more colorful characters and some cutting loose. It comes dangerously close to being stodgy at times. But I like Cary Grant a lot, I’m a long-time fan of Randolph Scott (I’m warnin’ ya, don’t even start), and MY FAVORITE WIFE is worth watching.
With a set-up like that, you have to expect some mildly risque dialogue (very mild!), a lot of going in and of doors, and some deception and mistaken identities. The humor is of the gently whimsical variety for the most part, although Grant provides a few laugh-out-loud moments. Nobody was ever better at charming befuddlement. I’m not much of an Irene Dunne fan, though, and kept thinking, “Man, this would be a better movie with somebody like Kate Hepburn in the role.” In fact, the whole film could have done with more colorful characters and some cutting loose. It comes dangerously close to being stodgy at times. But I like Cary Grant a lot, I’m a long-time fan of Randolph Scott (I’m warnin’ ya, don’t even start), and MY FAVORITE WIFE is worth watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment