Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

I can't remember why we queued up My Favorite Wife (1940) - we've seen it before more that once. Maybe because we couldn't quite remember which of the "Got re-married because previous spouse was declared dead and now their back and I've got two spouses" movies it was.

It's the one with Cary Grant. He's getting his previous wife declared dead after she has been missing seven years and to marry his girlfriend Gail Patrick (who I always get confused with Gale Sondergaard - two severe, scary brunettes). Well, what do you know? That very day. Grant's old wife, Irene Dunne, arrives at their old house. She has been rescued, and wants to surprise Grant and their kids. The kids don't recogize her, and Grant is on his honeymoon. Her mother-in-law, Anne Shoemaker, explains the situation, and mentions that they are honeymooning at the same hotel he honeymooned with Dunne (the Ahwanee in Yosemite, recognizably shot on location). So she goes to mess things up.

Once Grant sees her, we get a nice little sex farce with Grant unwilling to tell Patrick that his dead wife is alive, but also won't consummate his marriage. So lots of running around, and finally, heading back home.

At his house, he doesn't tell his kids he is married to Patrick, and makes sure not to sleep with her. Then an insurance man shows up to check if Dunne is still deads, so they can pay off her policy. He mentions a rumor that she was rescued along with a man who was on the same island - they called each other Adam and Eve. Grant runs off into the night to find this "Adam" in his bathrobe (he just goes a little gay).

Although Dunne assures him that Adam was a complete gentlemen, harmless really, Grant discovers that he is Randolph Scott, living at the Pacific Club and continually doing diving stunts in the pool. Grant's series of double takes at his physique is delightful. (Even if you haven't heard the stories about Grant and Scott living together in Bachelor's Hall.)

So that's the outline. Grant is married to Patrick and can't tell her his other wife is alive. He is also wildly jealous of Scott. Dunne is lovely and funny, with a deep attachment to the kids - there's a cute scene where the kids figure out that she is their mother and they put her through it for a little. 

I guess there are a few structural problems with this - it lags here and there, and you have to wonder why Grant didn't just explain things instead of trying out increasingly unlikely lies. But it was pretty funny, the leads are all charming, and it has a neat wrap up for everyone but Patrick, who just sort of flounces. 

Plus the whole gay subtext is always fun.