Jean Arthur has “Too Many Husbands”

Too Many Husbands (1940) is a screwball comedy directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, and Melvyn Douglas. The screenplay was written by Claude Binyon (True Confession 1938), based on a play by W. Somerset Maugham.

Melvyn Douglas, Jean Arthur, and Fred MacMurray

Vicky Lowndes’s (Arthur) first husband, Bill Cardew (MacMurray) went missing in a boating accident and is presumed dead. During her bereavement, Bill’s best friend and business partner Henry Lowndes (Douglas) comforts Vicky. Within six months of Bill’s death, Vicky and Henry marry. Six months later, Bill shows up, after being rescued from an uninhabited island where he had survived after his accident at sea. Vicky has a tough choice to make; which husband does she want to spend the rest of her life with?

Cimarron (1931) was the only western to win the Best Picture Oscar until Dances with Wolves (1990)

Wesley Ruggles (1889 – 1972) was an American film director. He directed over 50 films including Cimarron (1931), No Man of Her Own (1932)—the only film to star Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, I’m No Angel (1933). The Gilded Lily (1935), I Met Him in Paris (1937), and You Belong to Me (1941). Ruggles got his start as an actor in 1915 where he appeared in several silent films. Two years later, his interests turned to directing. He was a top producer and director at Paramount throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. His career declined after directing and producing London Town (1946), considered one of the biggest flops in the history of British cinema. It was the last motion picture he directed. He was the younger brother of actor Charlie Ruggles.

Jean Arthur (1900 – 1991) was an American stage and film actress whose career spanned three decades. Arthur got her start in silent films but became a major star with the advent of sound. Her unique speaking voice made her a natural for comedy. She came to prominence having major roles in a series of films directed by Frank Capra: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take it With You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Other popular films Arthur starred in included Only Angels Have Wings (1939), The Talk of the Town (1942), The More the Merrier (1943). Arthur’s last film role was in the western classic Shane (1953). After retiring from acting, she taught drama at Vassar College where one of her students was Meryl Streep.

Fred MacMurray (1908 – 1991) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and had a successful career on television as well. MacMurray signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1934 and was a major leading man by 1935. He co-starred with the studio's top leading actresses including Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and Madeleine Carroll. By 1943, MacMurray was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood and the fourth-highest-paid person in the United States. Probably his most famous role is as insurance agent Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (1944) co-starring Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. During the late 1950s and 1960s, MacMurray gained new fame as the star of films produced by Walt Disney including The Shaggy Dog (1959), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), Son of Flubber (1963), and Charley and the Angel (1973).

Melvyn Douglas (1901 – 1981) was an American actor. Douglas was a popular leading man during the 1930s working with some of Hollywood’s most famous leading ladies including Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Myrna Loy, and Merle Oberon. He won two Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards late in his career for Hud (1963) and Being There (1979). Douglas’s last film role was in Ghost Story (1981) co-starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Fred Astair.

Too Many Husbands trivia:

• Two endings were filmed, one having her end up with her first husband and the other having her stay with the second.
• The film was screened with both endings and sent out questionnaires to see which ending audiences preferred.
• Released just months before My Favorite Wife, both films were popular with audiences and critics.
• The film was remade as “Three for the Show (1955) starring Betty Grable, Jack Lemmon, and Gower Champion.

To watch the movie on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join our discussion of this film on Zoom, December 29, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. click here. Once you RSVP to the Meetup, you’ll receive an email with Zoom login information.

Questions for discussion:

1. What was your overall impression of the movie?
2. Did anything surprise you?
3. If you’ve seen My Favorite Wife, how are the movies similar and how are they different?
4. Did you have a favorite husband? Who do you think Vicky would be happiest with and why?
5. Was the film’s ending satisfying or a letdown?

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant: Making It All Look So Easy

This post is part of the Dynamic Duos in Classic Film blogathon hosted by fellow classic movie bloggers Once Upon a Screen and Classic Movie Hub.

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant starred in three films together during Hollywood’s Golden Age. One of those films is an undisputed classic and the others are still highly regarded by students of film. Not only were the pairings of Dunne and Grant popular with the critics, but with the public as well. All of the films they starred in were box office smashes, showcasing the stars’ unique talents. And these delightful pairings almost didn’t happen.

Irene Dune established herself as the star of successful melodrama’s like Back Street (1932), The Silver Cord (1933), This Man Is Mine (1934), and Magnificent Obsession (1935). A trained opera singer and stage actress, Dunne also triumphed as Magnolia in Show Boat (1936). When offered the lead role in the screwball comedy Theodora Goes Wild (1936), she resisted. Having carved out a nice career for herself as a dramatic actress, Dunne didn’t want to ruin a good thing. So reluctant to star as Theodora Lynn, Dunne supposedly extended her European vacation, hoping the producers would give the part to another actress. But the suits at Columbia were set on Dunne and they persisted—some say to the point of threatening a lawsuit since Dunne had signed a multiple picture deal with the studio.

Dunne made a name for  herself
by starring in popular melodramas.

Theodora Goes Wild was a showcase for Dunne’s incredible versatility. She sings, she dances, she plays the piano, (Dunne received a degree in music from Chicago Musical College, now Roosevelt University) and she shows her seemingly effortless comic timing. Dunne was so good as Theodora Lynn that she received the second of her five Best Actress Academy Award nominations. The comedy landscape would never be the same. In the wake of that comedy triumph, it was inevitable that the studio suits would put Dunne in another comedy.

The Awful Truth (1937) is a screwball comedy masterpiece that put Cary Grant on the map. Before this film, Grant was doing fine as eye candy to his more famous female costars. As popular as he was, he hadn’t yet solidified his movie image and on-screen persona. Like Dunne in Theodora Goes Wild, Grant was reluctant to make The Awful Truth. Grant originally didn’t feel comfortable under Leo McCarey’s direction. McCarey had an improvisational style that was troubling to the actor. As crazy as it seems today, Grant campaigned to switch roles with character actor Ralph Bellamy. Ironically, it’s McCarey’s direction and encouragement that helped established Grant as one of the best light comedy actors of all time—according to director Peter Bogdonovitch, “there was Cary Grant and everyone else was an also-ran.” In The Awful Truth, Grant is charming, funny, and showed that he was a master at physical comedy. Paired with Dunne, he appears comfortable, assured. He also looks as though he’s having the time of his life on screen. The chemistry between the two stars was magical. The film made Grant a superstar and Dunne earned another Best Actress nomination.

Publicity photo of Dunne and Grant for The Awful Truth

Three years later, Dunne and Grant teamed up again for My Favorite Wife. Leo McCarey co-wrote and produced the film, which was adapted from the very serious Alfred Lord Tenneyson poem “Enoch Arden.” Tennyson’s poem about a long-thought dead spouse was turned into a screwball comedy. This new Dunne/Grant pairing once again focused on the chemistry of the two stars. Arguably not as good as their first outing together, My Favorite Wife is still a delight. Opening at New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall, New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther called the film “an altogether delightful picture” and praised the performances of both stars, reminding viewers of the antics in their previous outing in The Awful Truth:

Do you remember “The Awful Truth”. . . Do you remember Mr. Grant and Miss Dunne as the interlocutorially divided lovers, whose immediate return to domesticity was prevented by nothing much more substantial than Miss Dunne’s tantalizing contrariness? Then you know pretty well what to expect in “My Favorite Wife” only more of it.

Once again, Dunne and Grant starred in a critically acclaimed picture. Once again they starred in a box office smash.

Dunne and Grant went from comic to
dramatic with great success.

Dunne and Grant would take an interesting turn with their next pairing, Penny Serenade (1941). The stars play a young couple who adopt a child and then struggle to raise her under economic hardship. When their little girl suddenly dies, their marriage is put to the test. Directed by George Stevens with a sure touch, the movie tugs at your heart without devolving into crass sentimentality. Our friend Crowther noted the movie’s successful manipulation of his emotions, but praised the picture overall, saying this about the two stars’ performances, “…some very credible acting on the part of Mr. Grant and Miss Dunne is responsible in the main for the infectious quality of the film.” Both performances by the two leads are heartbreaking. Grant has a remarkable scene where he pleads with an adoption agency worker that will break your heart—if you don’t find yourself moist around the eyes, you’re not human. For this performance, Grant received the first of his two Best Actor Academy Award nominations.

Of all the famous screen teams, I think Dunne and Grant are often overlooked. The world would be a much sadder place had the movie paths of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant never crossed.


For more great posts on Dynamic Duos in Classic Film, be sure to click on the links at the top of this page.

Been There Dunne That

Today, Irene Dunne is remembered as one of the top movie actresses from Hollywood’s golden age. She was nominated for five Best Actress Oscars between 1931 and 1949. Although she never won a competitive Oscar, she excelled at both comedy and melodrama. Dunne was known for her professionalism on and off the set. As far as her personal life was concerned, Dunne was never the subject of negative press. And she was married to the same man for 37 years, practically a miracle in Hollywood.

Kentucky-Born, Indiana-Bred
Dunne was born in Kentucky in 1898, but moved to Madison, Indiana, after her father’s death when she was 12. Dunne’s mother encouraged her young daughter to study piano and voice. As an adult, Dunne won a scholarship to Chicago Musical College, now part of Roosevelt University. After she earned her degree, Dunne was determined to sing Opera at New York’s Metropolitan. While performing as Magnolia in the Chicago company of Show Boat, Dunne was discovered and signed to a movie contract with RKO. The studio wanted to groom her to star in movie musicals. The Metropolitan Opera would have to wait.

Slow Start
In the early days of talking pictures, musicals were all the rage. Dunne’s first film was the forgotten musical comedy Leathernecking (1930). Unfortunately for Dunne and RKO, the popularity of movie musicals was in decline and Leathernecking was a flop. The following year would prove to be a game-changer.

An Epic Performance

Dunne’s next role was as Sabra Cravat, the heroine of Edna Ferber’s epic novel Cimarron (1931). Still relatively unknown, it was remarkable that she was given such an important part. The film, costarring Richard Dix, was an immediate critical and financial success. It brought Dunne her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination and it set the course of her career for the next five years.

Queen of the Weepies

Instead of starring in musicals, the career path RKO originally plotted for her, Dunne was cast in a series of successful melodramas. These melodramas included Back Street (1932), This Man is Mine (1934), and Magnificent Obsession (1936). Due to her commercial successes in melodramas, she was dubbed the "Queen of the Weepies," in the trade. Dunne did make two musicals during this period: Roberta (1935) and Show Boat (1936). Both movies were hits, but they didn’t have the world clamoring for more Irene Dunne musicals.

The Reluctant Comedianne

Producers saw something in Dunne’s portrayal of Magnolia, another Edna Ferber character, in Show Boat. It was the ability to let herself go in the musical numbers. There was joy and humor in her performances. The studio suits theorized that Dunne would be perfect for the role of Theodora Lynn in Theodora Goes Wild (1936) on loan-out to Columbia. But Dunne didn’t like comedy. Plus she had an excellent career as a dramatic actress and didn’t want to damage her reputation by giving a poor performance. So adverse was Dunne to playing Theodora that she took an extended vacation in Europe, hoping the studio would assign the role to another actress. After much prodding and pleading, and a few threats from Columbia, Dunne finally relented. What happened would be a major high point in an already successful career.

This Place is Full of Aunts

In Theodora Goes Wild, Dunne plays a small-town girl raised by two maiden aunts. Unbeknownst to them and the rest of the inhabitants of Lynnfield, CT, is the secret that Theodora has written a monster best-selling novel, The Sinner, under the penname, Caroline Adams. On a visit to her publisher in New York City, Theodora meets an unhappily married artist who seems to think Theodora needs to loosen up and live a little. As the movie progresses, Theodora does loosen up, but realizes she’s not the only one whose life could use a shot of excitement. Dunne’s character eventually reveals her true identity and throws caution to the wind, while the rest of Lynnfield is left dumbstruck.

Wild Success
Theodora Goes Wild was an instant hit with film critics and audiences. For her tour de force performance, Dunne received her second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. As the choir-singing, organ-playing, church soloist, all of Dunne’s talents were on display.

Good Company

Dunne and Theodora were in good company in 1936. Frank Capra’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Gregory La Cava’s My Man Godfrey were also released that year. Dunne’s fellow Hoosier, Carole Lombard, was nominated for Best Actress. Both Dunne and Lombard lost out to Louise Rainer, who had a supporting role, if that, in The Great Ziegfeld, in one of the most controversial Best Actress races of all time.

Comedy Classics

Looking back, it’s hard to understand Dunne’s reluctance to play Theodora. She performs the role so effortlessly and is so believable. It’s a good thing too because if we don’t believe Dunne and her genuine small-town goodness, the movie doesn’t work. Perhaps Dunne realized this when she saw the script and knew if not played just right, it would be an utter failure, a failure laid entirely at her feet. Fortunately for Dunne and film history, she was more than up to the task. If there were no Theodora, chances are there would be no Lucy Warriner in The Awful Truth, no Ellen Arden in My Favorite Wife, and no Nancy Andrews in Unfinished Business. And that would have been a pity. A real pity indeed!

Sources used: Irene Dunne: First Lady of Hollywood, Wes D. Gehring, Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, MD, copyright 2003
Romantic Comedy in Hollywood: From Lubitsch to Sturges, James Harvey, Da Capo Press, New York, NY, copyright 1987

Well Dunne: From "Queen of the Weepies" to the Queen of Comedy

Few movie actresses had the critical and box office successes that Irene Dunne had in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939),  My Favorite Wife (1940), and Penny Serenade (1941) were all big hits when released and undisputed classics today.

Dunne started her film career in 1930 with the lead role in a film called Leathernecking. The very next year, she had a breakout performance in Cimarron starring opposite the more established Richard Dix. So impressive was Dunne's performance that she received the first of her five Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.

The films that followed, cast Dunne in a series of popular melodramas including Back Street, Thirteen Women, The Secret of Madame Blanche, and Ann Vickers. When she costarred again with Dix in the 1934  production Stingaree, she was the bigger star and received top billing.

During the early to mid-1930s, Dunne was known in the trade as the "queen of the weepies."  This reputation made Dunne apprehensive when offered the role of Theodora Lynn in the screwball comedy Theodora Goes Wild. As the small town girl who writes a scandalous novel, Dunne's comic timing and expressive emotions were a instant hit with critics and the public.

The two comedies she made with Cary Grant: The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife helped establish Dunne as one of the grand dames of movie comedy. On her films with Grant, Dunne remarked, "I think we were a successful team because we enjoyed working together tremendously, and that pleasure must have shown through onto the screen ... I will always remember two compliments he made me. He said I had perfect timing in comedy and that I was the sweetest-smelling actress he ever worked with."