Guest Wife

What a fantastic premise, and a great experiment to try in real life - if you're very brave. In Guest Wife, Don Ameche plays a fast-talking newspaper man who had put across the lie that he's a happily married man. When his publisher sets up a dinner party and invites Mr. And Mrs. Ameche, Don panics. Claudette Colbert is his best friend's wife, and when she gets "loaned" to Don for the party, it brings up a lot of emotions. It brings out her husband's loyalty and trust, it brings out Don's selfishness, and it brings out Claudette's hatred for Don! Or does it...?

This screwball comedy is hilarious, and since I don't normally like that genre, it must be good. It's interesting, and true to life, that you can be the best of friends with someone and not be able to stand his/her spouse. It also makes you think about marital security. Just because you're married, does that mean you can stop working on your relationship? By pretending to be someone else's spouse for a weekend, can you really get to know them? This movie argues yes, and whether or not you end up agreeing (I did), you'll certainly enjoy the ninety minutes it takes to explain it.

Don Ameche steals the show in this black and white romantic comedy. Don Ameche is in wonderful form. He not only delivers his lines with perfection but his use of his eyes makes his character, Joe, come to life. This movie promises many laughs. Claudette Colbert also offers up a good performance as Mary, the wife that Joe borrows from his best friend Chris.

"I can tell more about a woman by looking at her feet than by looking at her face". Luckily "Mary" (Claudette Colbert) doesn't wear Wellington boots in this sometimes rather confusing comedy. She is happily married to docile bank manager "Chris" (Dick Foran) who, in turn, just happens to be best pal with writer "Joe" (Don Ameche). This latter chap has a problem. He has won an award - and an $1,000 honorarium, but he needs to acquire a wife in an hurry. Who better than "Mary"? She's none too keen on "Joe" nor on this wacky idea, but for the sake of a peaceable life she agrees. Imagine the confusion that causes at home when his boss sees his wife in the newspapers married to an altogether different man! Tongues will wag and there might even be a run on the bank! Well, enter onto the scene the redoubtable Charles Dingle's "Worth" and then add a dose of mischief from a "Mary" who has decided she is going to have some fun, and we are set fair for a standard screenplay that delivers predictably, but that also showcases Colbert's engaging talent with this flighty and amiable character and an Ameche who is on good form, too. The plot does recycle itself once or twice and the scenarios do contrive the humour a little, but this has enough different about it to avoid the usual "love triangle" type of scenario, there are a few enjoyable twists, and ever since her "Cleopatra" in 1934, Colbert can do little wrong in my book.

Foreign correspondent Don Ameche has never met Claudette Colbert, the wife of his best friend, Dick Foran. He has been using her picture and the claim she is his wife to get a lot of bonuses from his employer, Charles Dingle. Now back in the States, he wishes to borrow her for his New York meeting, and through the usual situation comedy mix-ups, does

All three leads are practiced farceurs in this sort of comedy, and under the direction of skilled director, Sam Wood, this is good, if not particularly remarkable movie. The best bits are carried out by others, like house detective Grant Withers, who thinks he has Foran's number, and Wilma Francis, one of Ameche's girl friends who thinks she can recognize true love when she sees it. Chester Clute and Irving Bacon have small but amusing bits.

Ameche had been the highest-paid actor in the world when his contract with Fox expired Suddenly, his movie career collapsed, although his radio, television, and Broadway career did very well for decades. It would not be until the 1980s that he came back in favor, and he made the most of his last ten years before dying in 1993 at the age of 85.

Married couple Chris and Mary are about to set out for a second honeymoon whenever Chris's old friend Joe comes to town. Mary doesn't like Joe because he always brings trouble and this time is no exception. It seems that Joe has been using a fictional wife to improve his job prospects – even sending pictures of his wife and letters from her to his boss to impress upon him what a great guy he is (in the eyes of his fictional wife). However when his employers request the presence of Mrs Parker in New York, Joe has to ask Mary to stand in. Being a good friend Chris says yes and, with him stuck in town, Mary and Joe head off together, apparently oblivious of the sheer amount of problems that they will create.

The basic idea behind this plot means that it is the Mary and Joe that have the best chemistry and spend the most time together on screen, this is a risk that it takes because it means the audience could have felt more for them as a couple rather than Chris as Mary's husband. This would have been a disaster (particularly at the time of release) but the film manages to keep it fresh and keep us engaged in the marriage while also enjoying the sparks between Joe and Mary. It cleverly makes a game to excuse the chemistry and stops us worrying about whether real love is blossoming or not. By doing this it keeps it light and enjoyable, consistently amusing and occasionally laugh out loud funny thanks to some sharp lines and jokes.

The cast match this effortlessly. Colbert has great fun with an increasingly playful role that shapes the film and the other characters; she is the lead and her comic performance is great. Ameche also changes across the whole film as well, going from playboy to "rabbit in headlights" easily and convincingly. Foran has the hardest role in terms of engaging the audience but he does pretty well with a rather simple lug of a character. Support from people like Dingle, Mitchell, Bacon and others in minor roles all help the generally comic air come over consistently.

Overall this is a bit of a balancing act and it is to its credit that it manages to pull it off and keep the audience onside. It is all light, fluffy stuff of course but it is surprising just how enjoyable it is if you are in the mood for it. If you're looking for something inconsequential and fun then you could do a lot worse than trying this film.