Rating: NR
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 06/01/2004
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 88 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Leo McCarey was supposed to both produce and direct
My Favorite Wife, but an illness forced him to relinquish the director's chair to Garson Kanin, who did a splendid job. This hilarious retread of the old "Enoch Arden" legend stars Irene Dunne as Ellen, who returns home to her husband Nick (Cary Grant) and children Tim (Ann Shoemaker) and Chinch (Mary Lou Harrington) after being marooned on a desert island for seven years. Thing of it is, Ellen has been declared legally dead, and Nick has taken unto himself a second wife, the bitchy Bianca (Gail Patrick). Upon discovering that Ellen is still alive, Nick is on the verge of a tender reunion-until it discovers that she spent those seven lost years in the company of handsome Mr. Barkett (Randolph Scott). The superb supporting cast includes
Granville Bates as a flummoxed judge,
Chester Clute as a meek shoe salesman whom Ellen tries to pass off as Barkett, and
Donald MacBride as a beetle-browed honeymoon-hotel clerk.
My Favorite Wife was remade in 1963 as
Move Over Darling, in which Irene Dunne and Cary Grant were replaced by
Doris Day and
James Garner.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide