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My Favorite Wife (1940)

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Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 13
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 2

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

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User Ratings: 5,307

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Movie Info

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

Unrated, 1 hr. 28 min.

Classics, Comedy

Directed By: Garson Kanin

In Theaters: May 17, 1940 Wide

On DVD: Jun 1, 2004

RKO Radio Pictures

Cast

Irene Dunne
Ellen Arden
Cary Grant
Nick Arden
Randolph Scott
Stephen Burkett
Gail Patrick
Bianca
Ann Shoemaker
Ma
Scotty Beckett
Tim Arden
Mary Lou Harrington
Chinch Arden
Donald MacBride
Hotel Clerk
Hugh O'Connell
Johnson
Granville Bates
Judge
Jean Acker
Witness
Murray Alper
Bartender
Leon Belasco
Henri
Chester Clute
Little Man
Franco Corsaro
Waiter
Pedro de Cordoba
Dr. Kohlmar
Harold Gerard
Assistant Court Clerk
Earl Hodgins
Clerk of Court
Cy Kendall
Detective
Horace McMahon
Truck Driver
Frank Marlowe
Photographer
Bert Moorhouse
Lawyer
Clive Morgan
Lawyer
Cyril Ring
Contestant
Brandon Tynan
Dr. Manning
Pat West
Caretaker
Florence Dudley
Witness
Thelma Joel
Miss Rosenthal

Critic Reviews for My Favorite Wife

All Critics (14) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (2) | DVD (9)

Ninety minutes of delightfully irrational comedy.

December 8, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

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TIME Magazine

Top Critic

The direction of Garson Kanin is spotty, and there is evidence of faults in editing -- but who cares?

March 25, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Times

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Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

While it's pleasant enough, the freshness is definitely off the bloom.

February 27, 2001 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Garson Kanin is not Leo McCarey, who was originally assigned to direct this screwball comedy, reuniting Cary Grant and Irene Dunne (Awful Truth), but he has made a well acted, decent, and enjoyable film.

January 8, 2012 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Nowadays, we would call this the purview of a low-rent TV sitcom. Watching it play out 70 years earlier with top-flight stars doesn't make it any more palatable.

January 10, 2011 Full Review Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

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Christopher Lloyd

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Lots of laughs for the first three-quarters of the film but then it peters out for the expected finale.

December 8, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

...benefits heavily from Grant's charismatic presence...

November 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

A relatively formulaic (though beautifully produced) bedroom comedy...

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Derek Adams

Time Out

It's easy to see why Leo McCarey opted out of this tepid romantic comedy.

November 26, 2003 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Snappy, breezy and charming, this romantic comedy may not be the best of Grant's films of the period, but it's an entertaining romp showing Grant and Dunne on top form.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

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Film4

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Audience Reviews for My Favorite Wife

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My Favorite Wife is one of the lesser, lighter Cary Grant movies. In it, he plays a man whose wife is lost at sea. Seven years later, he goes to the judge to have her declared dead so that he may re-marry. No sooner does he re-marry when his first wife comes wandering back home. She had been living on a tropical

June 27, 2011

First Last

Super Reviewer

Dunne and Grant were teamed many a time, but this film seems a bit broader, and filled with moments where you have to suspend your disbelief, including Dunne's tragic circumstances, and Grant's state of marital contentedness. It's all lovey dovey and amazingly sweet, but it specifically works because the two compliment

April 4, 2010