"Day-Time Wife" is the kind of comedy in which one roots for one of the characters to expose or get the upper hand on another. In this case, it's Jane Norton finding out and exposing husband Ken who has been spending too much time at the office lately. But, her purpose is to reign him in. All of this is possible and works as a comedy because Ken and Jane have been married three years and still are madly in love. To best enjoy the comedy, one needs to pretend that a husband deeply in love with his wife would rather be out with a female office employee than at home with the love of his life.
Hollywood has made many films - comedies, murder mysteries and others - about unfaithful husbands, and boss and secretary affairs. This is a rare film with a clever plot in which there is no infidelity, but other circumstances that are the basis for many good laughs. It turns the tables on the usual types of characters, with Tyrone Power again in a straight-man role, and Linda Darnell playing wonderful comedy off of him, along with a great second comedy lead in Warren William.
Power's Ken Norton owns a roofing contracting business. Darnell is his wife, Jane. As she tells friend, Blanche, Ken stays out of her kitchen and she stays out of his office. Blanche is on her fourth husband, and she's in the plot as an acquaintance of Jane and Ken from somewhere. She intimates to Jane that there may be something more when Ken is late or out so many nights, especially when his secretary calls to give the message. Jane is not naïve, but she also is not like most women portrayed in such situations. She doesn't jump to the conclusion that Ken is having an affair. She is a woman who really knows her man very well and that he loves her as she loves him - totally. But, after this goes on so long, Jane decides to get a secretarial job on the q.t. She does this to find out what it is about a secretary who can lure a boss to dally and/or go astray.
So, Jane gets a job as Bernard Dexter's secretary. Warren William is the perfect actor to play the part of this guy with a large, architectural firm. He has a beautiful wife, but clearly has strayed in the past. His colorful character has some hilarious aspects that make up an extra clever part in the screenplay. On top of that, the Dexter and Norton firms may be doing business together - which makes it hard for Jane to remain incognito.
Well, this sets the stage for the rest of the film to play out with very funny, good, and some clever scenes and results. One other little comedic aside is how Ken's secretary, Kitty, presumes a lot and takes advantage by not showing up to work some mornings - to his dismay. Wendy Barrie is a hoot as Kitty. One long scene with hardly a spoken word had me in stitches. Jane poured a perfume she found in Ken's pocket, on their dog, Goliath. At the dinner table, the dog is close to his master and Ken smells the perfume. The expressions back and forth, from Jane and Ken are hilarious as he tries to get rid of and hide the aroma.
Power's difficulty with comedy is evident where Ken frowns, scowls and is angry at Jane's ruse and finding him out. But William knows how to play comedy. When Dexter's wife shows up, he becomes nervous and fearful like a kid who just got caught raiding the cookie jar.
Linda Darnell was a very good actress who starred in several films with Tyrone Power. Unfortunately, her personal life was not one of a happy marriage and bliss. She soon became a heavy drinker and struggled most of her adult life with alcoholism. She was married and divorced three times, and she died when she was just 41 years old. She succumbed to severe burns from a 1965 house fire when she was staying with her secretary who lived in a suburb of Chicago.
This is a very funny film, and even a lesson for some. Here are some favorite lines.
Jane Norton, "Say, are you still on speaking terms with your last husband?" Blanche, "Crawford? Oh, sure. I never let a divorce break up a friendship."
Miss (Joyce) Applegate, "You know, Mr. Dexter has a mind of his own. He's a genius. Everybody says so, including Mr. Dexter."
Bernard Dexter, interviewing Jane who is incognito as Jane Blake, "Do you play backgammon?" Jane Norton, "Huh?" Dexter, "Backgammon. Backgammon." Jane, "Oh, uh, yes. Yes." Dexter, "Everybody should play backgammon. That'll be all, Miss Blake."
Miss Applegate, "Well, are you in or out?" Jane Norton, " I... don't know." Applegate, "Did he ask you if you play backgammon?" Jane, "Yes." Applegate, slapping her hand on her desk, "You're in!"
Bernard Dexter, "Did you know that the Persian warriors always played backgammon after a hard day on the battlefield?"
Jane Norton, "Good morning! Oh, I just saw Mrs. Dexter." Bernard Dexter, "Oh, did you? Did she see you?" Jane, "No." Dexter, "You get a bonus."
Bernard Dexter, dictating to Jane with gibberish, "Gentlemen, If we want to take the compaction and stataification of the configuration in confirmation to the angiography, it would represent a super structure with splanchforgustic meltadonographicism. Consequently, I will be unable to indulge in these archolinear gradiscopics inasmuch as I am taking Miss Blake to dinner this evening. What do you say?"
Ken Norton, "Listen, if I have to stay in the doghouse much longer, I'll be barking. Well, aren't you gonna laugh?" Jane Norton, "Well, aren't you gonna bark?"
