My Favorite Wife (1940)

My Review

“My Favorite Wife” is a screwball comedy about a woman who returns home after seven years of being shipwrecked on a Pacific Island, only to find out that her husband has declared her legally dead and is newly married to another woman. The hilarity was well directed by Garson Kanin(“Adam’s Rib” 1949) who put together an excellent comedy from the refined screenplay by Bella Spewack and Samuel Spewack.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are perfect as the couple suddenly reunited after seven years. They have excellent comedy timing throughout this 88 minute feature. The supporting cast includes Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick, Ann Shoemaker, Donald MacBride, Hugh O’Connell, Pedro de Cordoba, Grantville Bates, and Scotty Beckett and Mary Lou Harrington as Grant & Dunne’s children. “My Favorite Wife” was a big hit at the box office for producer Leo McCarey and RKO Radio Pictures.

It received three Oscar nods with zero wins – Best Story (the Spewacks and Leo McCarey), Best Score (Roy Webb), and Best Art Direction. It was filmed in Yosemite National Park and at RKO Studios in Hollywood. Two remakes include “Something’s Got to Give” (1962), unfinished due to the death of star Marilyn Monroe, and “Move Over, Darling” (1963) starring Doris Day and James Garner.