Model Wife

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell are married. They don't let it be known down at Lucille Watson's department store, where they both work; Miss Watson fires all married women. They're trying to save enough to have a baby, but money is tight, and Miss Watson's son, Lee Bowman, thinks Miss Blondell would make him a good wife. So does Miss Watson. She sees the improvement in Bowman since he got ideas into his head.

Leigh Jason's movie is not a comedy, although it has some fine comic actors, including Charley Ruggles, Ruth Donnelly, and Billy Gilbert. Powell and Miss Blondell are too worn down by money worries, and the day-to-day of trying to put away a few bucks The comics offer some relief to the grind, but even the best situations disappear into a miasma of anger when nothing works. It's a fine performance by Powell, who was trying to get out of the grind of being a boy crooner, and by Miss Blondell, who seems as distraught by the situation as he.

Model Wife casts Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, married but on the rocks in real life, as a married couple who have to keep their marriage a secret. They work in a department store that is run by Lucile Watson who does not permit folks married to each other in her employ. That's enough of a strain on the marriage as it is.

But add Lee Bowman in the mix and we've got real trouble as the Model Wife starts to lose some shine. Bowman is Watson's wastrel son who spends the money as fast as she makes it. That's going to end because he's going to go to work in the store where she can supervise all his activities.

Bowman takes a look at Blondell and asks for her as his secretary. That's when all the fun really starts.

Both stars starred in a whole number of films at Warner Brothers and both were looking for better material. Especially Powell who was desperate to reinvent himself as a dramatic actor. Sad to say that Model Wife was not too much different from the musicals he did at Warner Brothers you could even spot places where songs could be easily placed.

Powell had already shown some comic talent at Warner Brothers and does have a couple of good bits. He and Lee Bowman do an early version of that mirror routine that Harpo Marx perfected with among others Lucille Ball. Might have worked better if Bowman was not wearing a mustache.

Model Wife also has Powell and neighbor Charlie Ruggles in a state of high inebriation walk a pair of skunks into Watson's establishment during a perfume exhibition. Those skunks certainly give out with a different odor than the perfume does. It's the highlight of the film.

I think you'll find Model Wife a moderately amusing screen comedy that holds up fairly well. Though in this day and age who would ban married folks from the same establishment?