His wife is my wife

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Movie
German title His wife is my wife
Original title Guest Wife
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Sam Wood
script Bruce Manning ,
John D. Klorer
production Jack H. Kirball ,
Bruce Manning
music Daniele Amfitheatrof
camera Joseph A. Valentine
cut William Morgan
occupation

and (without mentioning): Gertrude Astor , Wilson Benge , James Burke , Maurice Costello , Helen Dickson , Franklyn Farnum , Mary Forbes , Edward Gargan , Harry Hayden , Robert Emmett Keane , Milton Kibbee , Harold Miller , Dan Seymour , Grady Sutton , Emmett Vogan and Charles Williams

His wife is my wife (Original title: Guest Wife ) is an American screwball comedy in black and white from 1945. Directed by Sam Wood based on a script by Bruce Manning and John D. Klorer . The main roles were played by Claudette Colbert , Don Ameche and Dick Foran .

action

In a small town in Ohio, bank clerk Christopher Price and his wife Mary are planning a second honeymoon in New York City . But shortly before they leave, Joe Parker, a childhood friend of Chris and a successful foreign reporter, arrives. He was summoned back to New York by his boss, Arthur Truesdale Worth, and now has a problem. Years ago he pretended to marry Worth in order to sneak a vacation. He later sent him a picture of Mary and passed her off as his wife. Now Joe has to travel to New York with his alleged wife. He asks the two of them to lend him Mary as his wife. Mary is against it, but Chris, who has been exploited several times by Joe, immediately accepts. Since the train to New York is full, only Joe and Mary leave at first; Chris should come later.

As soon as they arrive in New York, Joe and Mary have to go to an event that Worth has scheduled. He wants to celebrate his successful foreign correspondent and his wife, whose letters touched him deeply. When Chris finally wants to go after the two of them, he is stopped by Arnold, his boss. He saw a picture of Joe and Mary in a newspaper and now fears for the reputation of his bank, since Chris apparently lives with another man's wife. Therefore, Chris must first avert a scandal before he can leave. When he finally arrives in New York and can meet with Mary, the two attract the attention of the hotel detective and then that of Worth. Mary, annoyed by the events, tells Joe's ex-girlfriend, Suzy, that she loves Joe. At Worth's property on Long Island , where Joe and Mary have now been invited, Mary now also convinces Joe that she loves him. She even goes so far as to threaten suicide when he rejects her advances.

Chris enters the property. When he sees Mary and Joe together in what appears to be a romantic situation, he becomes jealous. He breaks into the room, knocks Joe down and leaves the house with Mary. After Joe learns from a message left by Mary that she wanted to trick him with her behavior, he decides to play the generous husband and let Worth comfort him. Mary, on the other hand, is pleased that her husband has finally prevailed against Joe.

production

The budget for His wife is my wife amounted to 1,750,000 US dollars .

In August 1951 it was announced that the Mafioso Abner Zwillman from New Jersey about his middleman Jules Endler financially to the production of his wife is my wife was involved without knowing the other producers of it.

Cast and crew

For Claudette Colbert, His Wife Is My Wife was the first film in which she starred as an independent actress after her contract with Paramount Pictures ended . She said she would now choose her roles herself and charge at least $ 150,000 per film.

For the Design were Lionel Banks (art director) and George Sawley (Set Decorator) responsible.

Filming

The film, produced by Greentree Productions , was filmed from November 27, 1944 to the end of January 1945 under the working title What Every Woman Wants . Filming locations for outdoor shots were the High Sierra near Bishop in California and Acapulco .

Kibble

The term kibble is established in the film, which stands for nothing more than prank . This went so far that the Motion Picture Herald of October 27, 1945 recommended cinema owners to base their advertising for the film on this word. Also Bosley Crowther felt in his quite negative review in the New York Times led to the film to mention that word.

Premieres

His wife is my wife premiered on July 27, 1945. The film was distributed by United Artists . The German-language premiere was on April 19, 1950.

reception

Reviews

His wife is my wife was mostly classified as a rather shallow marriage comedy or farce, but rated differently. Opinions range from “very tiring” to weak, mediocre, lively, entertaining, but not memorable, lightweight, but charming, to quite amusing. The reason was the thin story, which is not new, or the weak and banal script. In later reviews, the censorship of the 1940s was also mentioned, which prevented the film from becoming even funnier and significantly better. For example, Craig Butler wonders what the chemistry is like between Mary and Joe. If it is bad, the film becomes boring, but if it is good, the viewer wants the two of them to come together, which at the time would not have been accepted by the censors. The same applies to alternative solutions, such as the fact that Joe could be gay. It is also annoying that the story is not particularly plausible, and even goes further in the direction of "completely idiotic". The entanglements would be easy to resolve if not all characters were complete idiots. The film is also less well known because when it was released the screwball comedy era was more or less over.

In some cases, the performance of the actors is rated as good across the board. Don Ameche is highlighted, but above all Claudette Colbert, who shows what an excellent actress she is and one of her best comedic achievements ever. Occasionally, Don Ameche and Dick Foran are also criticized.

The direction by Sam Wood is rated positively, but so are the camera and the film music.

Award

At the Academy Awards in 1946 , Daniele Amfitheatrof was nominated in the category Best Film Music in Drama or Comedy . However, the Oscar went to Miklós Rózsa for I fight for you .

Aftermath

On December 10, 1945, the Lux Radio Theater broadcast a radio version of His Wife Is My Wife. Don Ameche and Dick Foran took over their roles from the film. The role of Mary Price was voiced by Olivia de Havilland .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c His wife is my wife. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 17, 2019 . Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ a b c d e Guest Wife (1945). In: American Film Institute . Retrieved February 17, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Zwillman to Investor in Two Films Made by Skirball, Released by UA In: Motion Picture Herald . August 17, 1951, p.  20 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  4. ↑ a b John Reid: Hollywood Classics 2: B Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies . Lulu.com, Morrisville 2004, ISBN 978-1-4116-0997-6 , Guest Wife , pp. 57–60 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  5. ^ The Selling Approach . In: Motion Picture Herald . October 27, 1945, p.  43 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e Bosley Crowther : The Screen . In: The New York Times . October 18, 1945 ( online on the New York Times pages [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Guest Wife . In: Variety . July 25, 1945, p.  20 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  8. ^ Emanuel Levy: Guest Wife (1945): Starring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche. In: EmanuelLevy.com. June 13, 2014, accessed February 17, 2019 .
  9. ^ A b Leonard Maltin: Leonard Maltin Ratings & Review. In: Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 17, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e Craig Butler: Guest Wife (1945). In: AllMovie . Retrieved February 17, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b c “Guest Wife” with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche . In: Harrison's Reports . July 28, 1945, p.  118 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  12. ↑ Hal Erickson : Guest Wife (1945). In: AllMovie . Retrieved February 17, 2019 .
  13. ↑ a b c d e Matt Hinrichs: Guest Wife (Blu-ray). In: DVD Talk. October 12, 2013, accessed February 17, 2019 .
  14. ^ Doris Milberg: The Art of the Screwball Comedy: Madcap Entertainment from the 1930s to Today . McFarland, Jefferson 2013, ISBN 978-0-7864-6781-5 , pp. 100 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed February 17, 2019]).
  15. ↑ a b c Derek Winnert: Guest Wife *** (1945, Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Dick Foran) - Classic Movie Review 7286. July 13, 2018, accessed on February 17, 2019 (English).
  16. ↑ a b Jeffrey Kauffman: Guest Wife Blu-ray. In: Blu-ray.com. October 5, 2013, accessed February 17, 2019 .
  17. ↑ lux radio theater (505) guest wife. In: Old Time Radio Downloads. Retrieved February 17, 2019 .