1941's FATHER TAKES A WIFE was Gloria Swanson's first motion picture in seven years. This quite modest little comedy is hardly an ideal comeback vehicle but Swanson herself in her autobiography admits it was the first movie she had been offered in years. If playing second fiddle to 51-year-old Adolphe Menjou, generally a supporting player in films at this point, was a bit humbling, 42-year-old Gloria dived in and proved she was ever the pro and still durably glamorous. Menjou stars as a shipping magnate who has fallen for stage star Swanson; all business for decades, he is now in his second youth with this new romance. He hands over the business to son John Howard and the middle-aged newlyweds embark on a honeymoon cruise to Mexico. Returning to the states, Menjou discovers a stowaway on board, Desi Arnaz, who is a concert singer in his unstated native country (doubtlessly Cuba). Sympathetic at first, Menjou moves Arnaz into the family mansion so he can practice for launching a career in America but the arrangement quickly gets on his nerves as Arnaz more than makes himself at home and in particular, his resentment at wife Swanson's devotion to being the benefactress for the young protégé.
This movie is only 79 minutes but it seems longer with it's episodic turns and not particularly amusing attempts at humor. Swanson looks gorgeous in some very lovely fashions but in several scenes she saddled with a not particularly flattering hairstyle. Her voice at times a little too hesitant for her role as a headstrong veteran star, as if she may be afraid some of her character's actions may seem a bit unsympathetic but it's still a good performance. Menjou is in fine form as the bewitched if often exasperated spouse. John Howard and Florence Rice do well as Menjou's son and daughter-in-law and Arnaz is fun as the conceited if innocuous protégé. Indeed, a times the Swanson-Arnaz angle seems like a family-friendly version of SUNSET BLVD's Swanson-William Holden. Trivia buffs may want to watch for unbilled bits by Loretta Young's ex-husband Grant Withers (as Judge Waters) and Ginger Rogers' future husband Jack Briggs (as Menjou's chauffeur).
Predictable and unmemorable, FATHER TAKES A WIFE deserves at least one viewing for the rather rare chance to see the legendary Gloria Swanson in a sound motion picture.
