My Favorite Wife
| My Favorite Wife | |
|---|---|
| File:My Favorite Wife poster.jpg | |
| Directed by | Garson Kanin |
| Written by | Leo McCarey Samuel and Bella Spewack |
| Produced by | Leo McCarey |
| Starring | Irene Dunne Cary Grant Randolph Scott Gail Patrick |
| Cinematography | Rudolph Maté |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date | May 17 1940 |
Running time | 88 min. |
| Language | English |
My Favorite Wife (released in the U.K. as My Favourite Wife) is a 1940 screwball comedy starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant that tells the story of a woman returning home to her husband and children after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for seven years. It is a reworking of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden"; in tribute, the main characters' last name is Arden. Garson Kanin directed.
Synopsis
Ellen Wagstaff Arden (Irene Dunne) returns to her beloved husband Nick (Cary Grant), just as he has had her declared legally dead (seven years being the minimum period required), so he can marry the high strung Bianca (Gail Patrick). Ellen reaches Nick just before he embarks on his honeymoon. Further complications ensue when Nick discovers that the virile Stephen Burkett (Randolph Scott) was alone with Ellen on the island all those years.
Cast
- Irene Dunne as Ellen Wagstaff Arden
- Cary Grant as Nick Arden
- Randolph Scott as Stephen Burkett
- Gail Patrick as Bianca Bates
- Ann Shoemaker as Ma
- Scotty Beckett as Tim
- Mary Lou Harrington as Chinch
- Donald MacBride as Hotel clerk
- Hugh O'Connell as Johnson
- Granville Bates as Judge
- Pedro de Cordoba as Dr. Kohlmar
Awards
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Story, Best Score and Best Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk.[1]
Remake
20th Century Fox began filming a 1962 remake starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and Cyd Charisse under the working title of Something's Got to Give, which was to be directed by George Cukor. There were problems from the beginning, mostly due to Monroe's failure to show up on time for work. Monroe was fired and Martin backed out when the studio attempted to recast Monroe's role with Lee Remick. Following Monroe's death in August 1962, Doris Day and James Garner were cast, and the new version was released by Fox as Move Over, Darling (1963).
See also
- Too Many Husbands (1940), a film with a very similar plot (with the sexes reversed) that was released less than two months earlier.
References
- ^ "NY Times: My Favorite Wife". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
External links
- My Favorite Wife at IMDb
- My Favorite Wife at AllMovie
- My Favorite Wife at the TCM Movie Database
- Historic reviews, photo gallery at CaryGrant.net
- My Favorite Wife
- Also
- Something's Got to Give at IMDb (unfinished 1962 remake with Marilyn Monroe)
- Move Over Darling at IMDb (1963 remake with Doris Day and James Garner)