My Favourite Wife (1940)

Introduction

My Favourite Wife is one of the most quintessential examples of the screwball comedy genre — a film that juggles marital misadventures, romantic reversals, mistaken identities, and slapstick absurdity with sparkling charm. Anchored by the irresistible chemistry between Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, the film delivers breezy, madcap fun with just enough emotional undercurrent to give it staying power beyond its zany premise.

Released during the golden age of Hollywood comedies, My Favourite Wife may not be as frequently cited as Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday, but it remains an endearing, sharply written romantic romp — elevated by top-tier performances, polished direction, and a premise both absurd and emotionally resonant.

Plot Summary

The film begins with Nick Arden (Cary Grant), a lawyer and grieving widower, finally moving on with his life after his wife Ellen (Irene Dunne) has been declared legally dead, seven years after her shipwrecked disappearance. On the very day he marries the elegant and proper Bianca (Gail Patrick), his long-lost wife suddenly returns — alive, well, and brimming with vitality.

Nick now finds himself in a delightful (and excruciating) dilemma: legally married to two women and emotionally torn between his lost love and his new bride. But complications don’t end there — when Ellen reveals she spent those lost seven years marooned on an island with a handsome fellow survivor, Stephen Burkett (Randolph Scott), Nick's jealousy boils over, triggering a series of comic misunderstandings, courtroom chaos, and romantic reckonings.

Performances

Cary Grant as Nick Arden

Grant brings his signature blend of debonair charm, bewildered exasperation, and razor-sharp comic timing. As Nick, he's a man caught in an impossible — and utterly ridiculous — situation, and Grant plays it to the hilt. His physical comedy, double takes, and escalating panic are masterful, but he also imbues Nick with a real emotional conflict, giving depth to the farcical premise.

Grant was in the prime of his comedic career, and this role allowed him to play both the leading man and the flustered buffoon — often within the same scene. His chemistry with Dunne is electric, and their verbal sparring feels as organic as it is hilarious.

Irene Dunne as Ellen Arden

Dunne is nothing short of delightful. As Ellen, she’s vivacious, witty, and emotionally grounded. Her comedic instincts are flawless, particularly in scenes where she must manipulate the situation to win back her place in Nick’s heart. But Dunne also brings heartache and dignity to Ellen, especially in moments where she’s reminded of all she missed in the years she was presumed dead.

Dunne had already proven herself a master of comedy in The Awful Truth (also opposite Grant), and My Favourite Wife further solidified her legacy as one of the most versatile leading ladies of the era.

Gail Patrick and Randolph Scott

Patrick, often cast as the “other woman,” delivers a fine performance as the tightly wound Bianca. She walks the line between snooty and sympathetic, never descending into caricature. Randolph Scott, as the chiselled Burkett, plays his role with just enough oblivious suavity to trigger Nick’s insecurities, but not enough to make him a real threat to the central romance.

Themes and Tone

Love, Identity, and Marital Chaos

At its heart, My Favourite Wife is about rekindled love and the absurdity of social and legal definitions of marriage. It explores the idea of how people change (or don’t) over time, and whether love can pick up where it left off after trauma and absence.

It also cleverly critiques male jealousy and assumptions about female fidelity. Nick's comic spiral upon hearing about Ellen’s island companion flips gender expectations of the era — inverting the classic “husband returns from war” trope with a wife who's very much her own person.

Screwball Mechanics

The film is a brilliant showcase of screwball structure: role reversals, physical comedy, mistaken identities, rapid-fire dialogue, and a love triangle that’s really a love quadrilateral. But beneath the gags lies a surprisingly sincere meditation on second chances and emotional renewal.

Direction and Writing

Director Garson Kanin, only in his late 20s at the time, keeps the pace brisk and the tone light, maintaining narrative clarity even as the farcical situations pile up. The dialogue, written by Bella and Samuel Spewack, is filled with quick wit and clever retorts, balanced with sincere exchanges that ground the film emotionally.

The film’s structure is tight, and while some plot beats are predictable, they unfold with such charm and energy that it doesn’t matter. The use of hotel lobbies, judges’ chambers, and suburban living rooms as comic battlegrounds reflects the genre’s penchant for domestic spaces turned chaotic arenas of love and confusion.

Historical Context and Legacy

Released by RKO in 1940, My Favourite Wife arrived at a time when American audiences were hungry for escapist fare, and this film delivered in spades. Originally conceived by Leo McCarey (who also directed The Awful Truth), the story was inspired in part by Tennyson's poem “Enoch Arden,” which told of a man returning to find his wife remarried — but here, the genders and tone are inverted to great comic effect.

The film was a box office success and earned three Academy Award nominations:

Best Story (Leo McCarey)

Best Art Direction (Van Nest Polglase, Mark-Lee Kirk)

Best Score (Roy Webb)

Its influence is still felt — perhaps most obviously in the 1963 remake Move Over, Darling, starring Doris Day and James Garner, which was initially a vehicle for Marilyn Monroe before her untimely death.

Memorable Moments & Dialogue

The courtroom scene with the befuddled judge (played hilariously by Granville Bates) is a highlight, as the legal absurdity of Nick’s situation finally explodes into slapstick and verbal chaos.

Grant’s comic physicality is on full display as he tries to “catch” Ellen in a lie about her island companion, turning from loving husband to jealous clown in mere seconds.

Dunne’s faux seduction of a fake “Burkett” (to make Nick jealous) is both clever and a perfect reversal of gender dynamics in classic comedies.

Verdict

My Favourite Wife is an effortlessly charming, brilliantly acted, and energetically directed romantic comedy that still feels fresh more than 80 years after its release. With a premise that could easily fall into implausibility or cliché, the film instead soars on the strength of its cast and its understanding of screwball rhythms.

Witty, warm, and wonderfully chaotic, it’s a romantic farce that affirms love, marriage, and the enduring allure of second chances — all while making you laugh out loud.