Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)
Encyclopedia
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 1941 screwball comedy film
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
, written by Norman Krasna
, and starring Carole Lombard
and Robert Montgomery
. It also features Gene Raymond
, Jack Carson
, Philip Merivale
and Lucile Watson
.
While Hitchcock later claimed he directed the film – the only pure comedy he made in America – as a favour to Lombard, the files at RKO Radio Pictures show that Hitchcock himself pursued the project.
) and David Smith (Robert Montgomery
) are a happily married couple living in New York. One morning, Ann asks David if he had to do it over again, would he marry her? To her shock, he answers he wouldn't. Later that day, they both separately find out that, due to a complication when they married three years earlier, they are in fact not legally married. Ann does not mention this to David, and thinks he will remarry her that very night after he takes her out to a romantic dinner. When this does not happen, she angrily kicks David out of their home.
David spends the night at his club, where a friend advises him to just wait a day, and then go back home. But when David drops by after work, Ann announces behind a closed door that she is not married to David, and has no intention of ever marrying him.
An angry and disheartened David takes to following Ann around, in the process interrupting a date and getting her fired from her job. A friend and co-worker of David, Jeff (Gene Raymond
), tells David he will talk to Ann and persuade her to remarry David. But when David shows up later that evening, he finds that Jeff has instead arranged a date with Ann the following night. David arranges a blind date at the same restaurant, but his date is vulgar and rude and the affair ends in disaster.
Later, Ann and Jeff go to the World's Fair, but become stuck on a ride and are forced to sit through several hours of rain many feet up in the air.
Ann and Jeff begin to date seriously, and Ann even meets Jeff's parents, an event that quickly becomes awkward when David barges in. To escape, Ann and Jeff decide to take a vacation with Jeff's parents at a skiing resort—the same resort where Ann and David had earlier been planning to holiday. Upon arriving at the resort, they find that David has rented a cabin right next to them, but when confronted, David simply faints. David spends the next few hours pretending to be sick and delirious whilst Ann fawns over him, but when Ann discovers his deception, she yells at him and leaves. Ann then loudly stages a pretend one-way conversation with Jeff in order for David to see they are very serious about each other. This falls through when David storms in to find her talking to thin air. In the end, Ann and David, once the picture of a happy couple, are screaming at each other when Jeff walks in. Ann then attacks Jeff for not beating up David, and Jeff and his parents leave in a huff.
Ann, alone at last, struggles with her skis until David offers to help her, then lifts up her legs so that she cannot get up. When Ann yells at him, he just bends down and kisses her, silencing her.
Alfred Hitchcock can be seen passing Robert Montgomery in front of his building, at about 43 minutes into the film. Lombard herself directed Hitchcock in the brief scene, forcing him to redo his very simple part many times.
adapted the film to radio on February 8, 1942 with Errol Flynn
and Lana Turner
, then again December 14, 1942 with Joan Bennett
, Robert Young
and Ralph Bellamy
and once more on January 1, 1945 with Preston Foster
, Louise Albritton and Stuart Erwin
. On January 30, 1949, it was adapted to Screen Director's Playhouse
with Robert Montgomery, Mary Jane Croft
and Carlton Young.
Screwball comedy film
The screwball comedy is a principally American genre of comedy film that became popular during the Great Depression, originating in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s. It is characterized by fast-paced repartee, farcical situations, escapist themes, and plot lines involving...
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, written by Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna was an American screenwriter, playwright, and film director. He is best known for penning screwball comedies, melodrama, and early films noir. Krasna also directed three films during a forty-year career in Hollywood...
, and starring Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
and Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery (actor)
Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
. It also features Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a composer, writer, director, producer, and decorated military pilot.-Stage and movie career:...
, Jack Carson
Jack Carson
John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
, Philip Merivale
Philip Merivale
Philip Merivale was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter....
and Lucile Watson
Lucile Watson
-Career:Watson began her career on the stage debuting on Broadway in the play Hearts Aflame in 1902. Her next play was The Girl With Green Eyes, the first of several Clyde Fitch stories. At the end of 1903, Lucile appeared in Fitch's "Glad of It"...
.
While Hitchcock later claimed he directed the film – the only pure comedy he made in America – as a favour to Lombard, the files at RKO Radio Pictures show that Hitchcock himself pursued the project.
Plot
Ann (Carole LombardCarole Lombard
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
) and David Smith (Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery (actor)
Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
) are a happily married couple living in New York. One morning, Ann asks David if he had to do it over again, would he marry her? To her shock, he answers he wouldn't. Later that day, they both separately find out that, due to a complication when they married three years earlier, they are in fact not legally married. Ann does not mention this to David, and thinks he will remarry her that very night after he takes her out to a romantic dinner. When this does not happen, she angrily kicks David out of their home.
David spends the night at his club, where a friend advises him to just wait a day, and then go back home. But when David drops by after work, Ann announces behind a closed door that she is not married to David, and has no intention of ever marrying him.
An angry and disheartened David takes to following Ann around, in the process interrupting a date and getting her fired from her job. A friend and co-worker of David, Jeff (Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a composer, writer, director, producer, and decorated military pilot.-Stage and movie career:...
), tells David he will talk to Ann and persuade her to remarry David. But when David shows up later that evening, he finds that Jeff has instead arranged a date with Ann the following night. David arranges a blind date at the same restaurant, but his date is vulgar and rude and the affair ends in disaster.
Later, Ann and Jeff go to the World's Fair, but become stuck on a ride and are forced to sit through several hours of rain many feet up in the air.
Ann and Jeff begin to date seriously, and Ann even meets Jeff's parents, an event that quickly becomes awkward when David barges in. To escape, Ann and Jeff decide to take a vacation with Jeff's parents at a skiing resort—the same resort where Ann and David had earlier been planning to holiday. Upon arriving at the resort, they find that David has rented a cabin right next to them, but when confronted, David simply faints. David spends the next few hours pretending to be sick and delirious whilst Ann fawns over him, but when Ann discovers his deception, she yells at him and leaves. Ann then loudly stages a pretend one-way conversation with Jeff in order for David to see they are very serious about each other. This falls through when David storms in to find her talking to thin air. In the end, Ann and David, once the picture of a happy couple, are screaming at each other when Jeff walks in. Ann then attacks Jeff for not beating up David, and Jeff and his parents leave in a huff.
Ann, alone at last, struggles with her skis until David offers to help her, then lifts up her legs so that she cannot get up. When Ann yells at him, he just bends down and kisses her, silencing her.
Cast
- Carole LombardCarole LombardCarole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
as Ann Krausheimer Smith - Robert MontgomeryRobert Montgomery (actor)Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
as David Smith - Gene RaymondGene RaymondGene Raymond was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a composer, writer, director, producer, and decorated military pilot.-Stage and movie career:...
as Jefferson Custer - Jack CarsonJack CarsonJohn Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
as Chuck Benson - Philip MerivalePhilip MerivalePhilip Merivale was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter....
as Ashley Custer - Lucile WatsonLucile Watson-Career:Watson began her career on the stage debuting on Broadway in the play Hearts Aflame in 1902. Her next play was The Girl With Green Eyes, the first of several Clyde Fitch stories. At the end of 1903, Lucile appeared in Fitch's "Glad of It"...
as Mrs. Custer - William TracyWilliam TracyWilliam Tracy was an American character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Tracy is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in The Shop Around the Corner. He also starred in the John Ford film Tobacco Road . That same year, he began a recurring role as Sgt...
as Sammy - Charles HaltonCharles HaltonCharles Halton was a stern-faced American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.One of his most memorable portrayals was as Carter, the bank examiner in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Harry Deever - Esther DaleEsther DaleEsther Dale was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top....
as Mrs. Krausheimer - Emma DunnEmma DunnEmma Dunn was an English-born American film actress. She appeared in 108 films between 1914 and 1948....
as Martha - Betty CompsonBetty CompsonBetty Compson was an American actress. Born Eleanor Luicime Compson in Beaver, Utah, she had an extensive film career. Her father died when she was young, and she was forced to drop out of school and earn a living for herself and her mother...
as Gertie
Alfred Hitchcock can be seen passing Robert Montgomery in front of his building, at about 43 minutes into the film. Lombard herself directed Hitchcock in the brief scene, forcing him to redo his very simple part many times.
Adaptations in other media
The Screen Guild TheaterThe Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.The show had a long run, lasting...
adapted the film to radio on February 8, 1942 with Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
and Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
, then again December 14, 1942 with Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
, Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
and Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned sixty-two years.-Early life:He was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lilla Louise , a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was fifteen and managed to get into a road show...
and once more on January 1, 1945 with Preston Foster
Preston Foster
Preston Foster was an American stage and film actor, and singer. Foster entered films in 1929 after appearing as a Broadway stage actor. He was appearing in Broadway plays as late as October 1931 when he acted in a play titled Two Seconds starring Edward J. Pawley...
, Louise Albritton and Stuart Erwin
Stuart Erwin
Stuart Erwin was an American actor. Erwin began acting in college in the 1920s, first appearing on the stage, then breaking into films in 1928 in Mother Knows Best...
. On January 30, 1949, it was adapted to Screen Director's Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse is a popular radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949...
with Robert Montgomery, Mary Jane Croft
Mary Jane Croft
Mary Jane Croft was an American actress best known for her roles as Betty Ramsey on I Love Lucy, Mary Jane Lewis on The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy, and Clara Randolph on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet....
and Carlton Young.