''Hired Wife'' is a 1940 American

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

directed by William A. Seiter and starring

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

and

Virginia Bruce Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, ...

Plot

When Stephen Dexter (Brian Aherne), boss of Dexter Cement, competes with the giants in his industry, they strike back by threatening to get an injunction against him the next day and tie up his business if he will not cooperate. Facing bankruptcy, he still refuses to give in. Van Horn (

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...

), his lawyer and longtime friend, suggests he get married that day and transfer all his assets to his new wife to get around the injunction. Stephen wants to marry his current girlfriend, blonde Phyllis Walden (

), but his second in command, Kendal Browning (Rosalind Russell), has other ideas. Early on in their working relationship, she had fended off his romantic advances, but has come to regret it. When Stephen sends her to see Phyllis, Kendal words the offer is such a way that Phyllis suspects it is a trap designed to expose her gold-digging motives. So she turns the second-hand marriage proposal down. Running out of time, Stephen asks Kendal to marry him. She accepts, and they fly to South Carolina to see a justice of the peace. Kendal eventually confesses to Stephen what she did to make Phyllis reject him, angering her husband. However, they have to live under the same roof to avoid suspicion that their marriage is a sham. Van Horn becomes a reluctant chaperon, rooming with Stephen. When Stephen sneaks away to a nightclub to explain things to Phyllis, Kendal follows. She runs into her handsome friend Jose (

John Carroll John Carroll may refer to: People Academia and science *Sir John Carroll (astronomer) (1899–1974), British astronomer *John Alexander Carroll (died 2000), American history professor *John Bissell Carroll (1916–2003), American cognitive sci ...

), who is curious to see what Stephen looks like. Kendal comes up with the idea to have the penniless Jose pose as a wealthy man to divert Phyllis. When Stephen's business competitors give up their underhanded tactics, he asks Kendal for a divorce. To his surprise, she refuses to give him one. However, the justice of the peace who married them shows up at the office and apologizes: his license had expired, so the marriage is invalid. When Phyllis and Jose separately converge on the office, he is finally revealed to be a fraud financed by Kendal. Kendal and Jose leave. Afterward, though, Stephen and Phyllis admit to themselves that they really love Kendal and Jose, respectively. Both couples are happily reunited.

Cast

as Kendal Browning *

as Stephen Dexter *

as Phyllis Walden *

as Van Horn *

as Jose raganza*

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography He was born in Virginia City, Nevada on September 22, 1886. Cavanaugh attended the University of California. He worked in ...

as William, Kendal's office assistant * Richard Lane as McNab *

William Davidson William or Bill Davidson may refer to: Businessmen * Bill Davidson (businessman) (1922–2009), Michigan businessman and sports team owner ** William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, named in honor of Bill Davidson * William Davidson ...

as Mumford, a customer of Dexter Cement

Adaptations

''Hired Wife'' was dramatized as a radio play on an hour-long broadcast of ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' on November 3, 1941.

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...

and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

play the Aherne/Russell roles. On September 22, 1941, at the end of ''Lydia''

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

announced that Powell and Loy would play in a performance of ''Third Finger, Left Hand'' on September 29. Instead Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and

Martha Scott Martha Ellen Scott (September 22, 1912 – May 28, 2003) was an American actress. She was featured in major films such as Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), and William Wyler's '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), playing the mother of Charlto ...

performed.

References

Bibliography

* Sikov, Ed. ''Screwball: Hollywood's Madcap Romantic Comedies''. Crown Publishers, 1989.

External links

* * *
1940 ''New York Times'' review
by

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

(subscription required) * {{William A. Seiter American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by William A. Seiter Films scored by Frank Skinner 1940 romantic comedy films Universal Pictures films 1940 films 1940s American films