My Favorite Wife

My Favorite Wife is a lighthearted, quasi-remake of The Awful Truth that works largely due to the charisma of its three leads.

The story sees a presumed dead Irene Dunn return home after being stranded on an island for seven years with Randolph Scott to find her husband, played by Cary Grant, newly remarried.

Grant and Dunne work well together on screen and seem to have some genuine chemistry. While they’re quite believable as a married couple, Grant and Gail Patrick are less so. Granted, the script doesn’t really develop Patrick’s character at all, but she seems to have zero charisma and you’re left scratching your head as to what could have possibly attracted Grant’s character to her in the first place.

Scott makes the most of small role and packs a large amount of easy charm into relatively few scenes. That he doesn’t make his appearance until the film’s halfway mark is a shame, as he really livens up the story.

The script is somewhat uneven. The subtler gags, such as Grant’s character’s reaction to Scott on the diving board, work well, while the “screwball” elements age poorly. Thankfully, there’s enough of the former to balance the later.

Under use of Scott aside, My Favorite Wife is an easy 88 minutes that should please fans of either Cary Grant or Irene Dunne.