Do you want to see ‘How to Murder Your Wife’?

How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 4

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 1

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 3,320

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

George Axelrod's script for How to Murder Your Wife isn't politically correct in the least, but you're likely to get a charge out of it -- provided you are of the male persuasion, that is. Jack Lemmon stars as Stanley Ford, a successful cartoonist and a confirmed bachelor who shares a lavish apartment with his misogynistic manservant, Charles (Terry-Thomas). While attending a friend's bachelor party, Stanley falls head over heels in love with the gorgeous bikini-clad girl (Virna Lisi) who pops

Unrated, 1 hr. 58 min.

Classics, Comedy

Directed By: Richard Quine

Written By: George Axelrod

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1964 Wide

On DVD: Oct 15, 2002

MGM Home Entertainment

How to Murder Your Wife Trailer & Photos

Cast

Jack Lemmon
Stanley Ford
Virna Lisi
Mrs. Ford
Terry-Thomas
Charles
Eddie Mayehoff
Harold Lampson
Claire Trevor
Edna Lampson
Sidney Blackmer
Judge Blackstone
Max Showalter
Tobey Rawlins
Jack Albertson
Dr. Bentley
Alan Hewitt
District Attorney
Mary Wickes
Harold's Secretary
Charles Bateman
William Bryant
Khigh Dhiegh
Edward Faulkner
Lauren Gilbert
Barry Kelley
Howard Wendell

Critic Reviews for How to Murder Your Wife

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (4) | DVD (3)

A nimble comedy that doesn't make much sense because it makes nonsense, most of it screechingly funny and played by knockabouts who know that the slapstick was invented for keeping an idea aloft, not for beating it into the ground.

May 9, 2011 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Finesse and desire aren't enough to overcome the fact that Axelrod's script doesn't make the most of its potentially antic situations.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Believable or not, this stuff is funny just so long as one can go with the sour joke- -and that depends upon one's tolerance of trivia and also, perhaps, upon whether one is a fellow or a girl.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

This dated comedy is saved by Lemmon's comedic genius which eschews macho.

May 9, 2011 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Lemmon est� �timo como sempre, e Lisi � bel�ssima, mas o fraco roteiro e a rid�cula conclus�o comprometem o filme irremediavelmente.

February 9, 2004 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

The movie contains unbelievably sexist lines and attitudes, and it's impossible to imagine anyone in this day and age watching the film without being horribly offended.

January 24, 2004 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comments (2)

David Nusair

Apollo Guide

Superior 60s sex comedy.

May 20, 2003 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for How to Murder Your Wife

View All

A mostly forgotten gem from 1965 this comedy operates under the seductive fantasy that no man really ever wants to be married. After one drunken night's revelry Lemmon awakes to discover he's slipped up and married ... now what? More cute than laff-out-loud funny it does carry more than a few good bits.

August 18, 2011