date watched: May 13, 2009
location: At home, courtesy of Netflix.
And yet another "comedy of remarriage." Always a delight :)
I must say that this has to be one of my favorites! I think the greatness should be attributed mostly to the writing, and the humorous music, more than the directing itself. No offense, Kanin.
Pearl Harbor (Michael Bay, 2001) also posed us with the question: do you move on after your beloved spouse is assumed dead? Of course, My Favorite Wife is oodles better because of the comedic element, and nobody actually has to die.
Some of the scenes are designed so perfectly. For example, after Nick (Cary Grant) has seen his wife's "Adam," he cannot get him out of his mind. He tries to carry on a conversation on the phone, but keeps seeing images of Burkett (Randolph Scott) swinging and flaunting his well-toned body all the while.
The scenes in the courtroom mirror cinema spectatorship: there is an audience seated behind the four men and women, and they laugh, as if cued from an unseen director. This audience within the screen and the audience outside coordinate their laughter, and the judge can only look on disapprovingly, unable to control them.
Even after Ellen (Irene Dunne) mentally tortures Nick, he still can't get himself to confess his unchanged love for her. But how can you refuse lovable Grant in a Santa Claus costume? I know I would have taken him back IMMEDIATELY. It's this Grant that we all know and love--clumsy and muttering things under his breath. He's not as intriguing when he's poised and winsome, like in some of Hitchcock's films. I think I will need to check out more from the Dunne-Grant duo! Note to self: watch The Awful Truth, and Penny Serenade.
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