Loving couple Ann and David (Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery) discover that their marriage three years ago was technically invalid. Marital antics ensue.
This is the second film I’ve covered recently where Cary Grant was unavailable for the lead, the first being A Foreign Affair. Oddly I have never covered any of Montgomery’s films. None of his others are even on my radar. Perhaps the only reason why I know him is because he is Elizabeth Montgomery’s dad. He would never work with Hitch again. As for Lombard, she would do only one more film before tragically dying.
The 2005 Pitt/Jolie film was very loosely inspired by this film, but it was mostly a remake of a short lived 1996 Scott Bakula TV show, where it got the espionage/assassin angle. There is also a 2007 TV movie as well as the current Donald Glover vehicle. All of these later properties wisely focused on the action elements.
Lombard convinced Alfred Hitchcock to do this film, or maybe she didn’t. Hollywood stories are to be taken with a grain of salt. While there is humor in many of Hitch’s films, this stands as his only screwball comedy. I support his decision to avoid the genre. Few laughs, little chemistry, wonky ending. If you are looking for this kind of film, consider The Palm Beach Story, Move Over Darling, or even My Favorite Wife. It was just done better. AMRU 2.5.
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