Mr & Mrs Smith ***½ (1941, Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond) – Classic Movie Review 572

Alfred Hitchcock’s single effort at making one of the screwball marital comedy movies that were so in vogue at the time, Mr & Mrs Smith (1941), was made as a personal favour to his friend Carole Lombard, or so he said.

Working outside his usual comfort zone, Hitchcock produces a film to reckon with and be greatly entertained by. But he was never happy with the result and was later dismissive of the film, though it was a hit and made a profit of $750,000.

Screenwriter Norman Krasna had come up with the basic idea of Mr & Mrs Smith (under the original working titles of Who Was That Lady I Seen You With? and No for an Answer) and pitched it to Lombard who was keen and sold it to the RKO studio, then contacting Hitchcock. Curiously the files at RKO Radio Pictures tell a different story, suggesting that Hitchcock himself pursued the project.

Robert Montgomery stars with Lombard as Mr David Smith and Mrs Ann Smith, a constantly bickering married couple living in New York City who, though happy, often have fights that last for days before they lovingly reconcile. One day they discover that, after three years together, they aren’t actually married at all, happily or otherwise, like they thought they were, because revised American state boundaries have made changes that make their union void.

Idaho county official Harry Deever (Charles Halton) informs David and that, because of the jurisdictional mishap, their three-year old marriage licence from Idaho is not valid. Uncertain of their future, Mrs Ann Smith chucks Mr David Smith out, but he tries to woo her back, while she tries to make him jealous by dallying with his friend and law business associate, Jefferson ‘Jeff’ Custer (Gene Raymond).

Mr & Mrs Smith is as lightweight as the proverbial feather but it is all so charmingly acted and bubbly, with the stars sparkling together and a splendid gallery of favourite Hollywood character actors, that it is a fine piece of vintage entertainment, and generally way better than its reputation suggests.

A playful Hitchcock has got the measure of the actors and the piece exactly, timing the well written and acted laughs precisely and the pace exactly, so that you wish he had filmed more comedy. Maybe it is only because you are secretly awaiting the next murder that does not come that the film seems not quite one of Hitchcock’s best.

Hitchcock said: ‘That picture was done as a friendly gesture to Carole Lombard. In a weak moment I accepted. Since I didn’t really understand the type of people portrayed in the film, all I did was to photograph the scenes as written.’

Alfred Hitchcock can be seen in his usual cameo.

Alfred Hitchcock can be seen in his usual cameo passing Robert Montgomery in front of his apartment building, as the camera pulls back, about 43 minutes into the film. Delighting the crew, Lombard directed Hitchcock in the brief scene, mischievously making him redo his simple part many times.

It was to prove Lombard’s last film released before her death, aged only 33, on 16 January 1942. To Be or Not to Be (1942) was her final film, released two months after she tragically died in a plane crash, while returning home with her mother on a World War Two War Bond tour. President Franklin D Roosevelt posthumously awarded her the Medal of Freedom as the first American woman killed in the line of duty in World War Two. Orson Welles claimed that Lombard’s plane had been shot down by American Nazi sympathizers.

Also in the cast are Jack Carson, Philip Merivale, Lucile Watson, William Tracy, Esther Dale, Emma Dunn, Betty Compson, Patricia Farr, William Edmunds, Adela Pearce, Murray Alper and James Flavin.

Mr & Mrs Smith is directed by Alfred Hitchcock, runs 95 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Norman Krasna, is shot in black and white by Harry Stradling Sr, is produced by Harry E Edington, is scored by Edward Ward, and designed by Van Nest Polglase and L P Williams.

It was released on January 31, 1941.

Carole Lombard also did a radio version of it with Bob Hope for Lux Radio Theatre on June 9, 1941. Much later, Robert Montgomery did a radio version of it with Mary Jane Croft for Screen Director’s Playhouse on January 30, 1949,

The cast are Carole Lombard as Ann Smith, Robert Montgomery as David Smith, Gene Raymond as Jefferson Custer, Jack Carson as Chuck Benson, Philip Merivale as Ashley Custer, Lucile Watson as Mrs Custer, William Tracy as Sammy, Charles Halton as Harry Deever, Esther Dale as Mrs Krausheimer, Emma Dunn as Martha, Betty Compson as Gertie, Patricia Farr as Gloria, William Edmunds as Proprietor at Lucy’s, Adele Pearce as Lily, Emory Parnell as Conway, Murray Alper and James Flavin.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 572

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