Wives Never Know

In "Wives Never Know", Homer and Marcia Bigelow (Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland) are devoted to each other and act like honeymooners even though they've been married for years. Those around them see them as the ideal couple...except for an idiot author (Adolph Menjou) of the book "Marriage, the Living Death". This knucklehead somehow convinces the Bigelows that what their marriage needs is excitement and that excitement will be provided by having Homer cheat on his wife...just a bit! How they believe this hooey is beyond me, but soon Homer is forcing himself to drink, smoke and chase another woman...and he's miserable throughout the experience. And, instead of making the Bigelows happy, it naturally causes all sorts of problems.

The plot is simply bizarre to say the least. In fact, I'd say it's contrived...something that simply makes no sense to anyone except Hollywood folks! Because the plot is so ridiculous, you can't help but be turned off by the movie even though the acting is quite nice. Plus, it's nice to see Ruggles playing against type, as he OFTEN played husbands who strayed during this era. But the plot just bogs it all down and offers the actors little with which to work. Watchable but it simply should have been better and more enjoyable.