Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Norman Krasna
IMDB
A selfish and temperamental man and his tantrum throwing wife find out that they are not legally married. When Mr. Smith doesn't take her to get married instantly, she goes into full-on tantrum mode. She gets a job at a department store and begins to date his partner. Mr. Smith works very hard to try to win her back.
This movie falls a little flat, in my opinion. I know that Hitchcock can do comedy. I love The Trouble with Harry. This film is a screwball comedy that mostly isn't funny, although the premise is ripe for comedy.
The characters are not charming at all. Carole Lombard is beautiful, but her character is so awful in this film. She just wants to punish her husband for trying to be romantic. Mr. Smith is an angry jerk and his partner is a wimpy douche. What man would start dating his best friend's wife, especially if your best friend is your business partner. It doesn't make much sense.
There was only one time I laughed. It was when Mrs. Smith was asked if she was from the south. She says something along the lines of no, but she had a relative who didn't fight in the civil war because he was a slacker.
I would not recommend this film, but it's not awful. It starts off strong, but the characters are charming enough to pull off this farce and make you ignore its shortcomings.
6/10
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