''Misbehaving Husbands'' is a 1940 American comedy film directed by

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out a remarkable 179 feature-length films in a wide variety of genres. He is best know ...

for

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower St ...

. The film had the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

s ''At Your Age'' and ''Dummy Husbands''.

Harry Langdon Henry Philmore "Harry" Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American actor and comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', December 27 ...

, Betty Blythe,

Esther Muir Esther Muir (March 11, 1903 – August 1, 1995) was an American actress on Broadway and in Hollywood films. Early years Born in Andes, New York, Muir had six sisters and three brothers. She began modeling in New York City while still a h ...

, and others in the cast had been stars in

silent films A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. It was

Gig Young Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come Fill the Cup'' ...

's film debut, under his real name Byron Barr.

Plot

Absent-minded

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

owner Henry Butler (

), forgetting his

wedding anniversary A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date that a wedding took place. Couples often mark the occasion by celebrating their relationship, either privately or with a larger party. Special celebrations and gifts are often given for partic ...

, ends up working late and missing the surprise party thrown by his wife, Effie ( Betty Blythe). He has to have a store mannequin repaired. On the street he is spotted, with the

mannequin A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...

, by a friend of his wife who thinks Henry is escorting a strange blonde. Other bystanders think it's a murder victim and call the police. Henry is picked up by the police and kept for interrogation until the wee hours of the morning, but his troubles are just starting. Effie has overheard the gossip spread among her party guests and, seeing Henry come home with the mannequin's blonde hair on his clothes and one of the mannequin's shoes, fears the worst. Her friend, Grace Norman (

), and an unscrupulous lawyer, Gilbert Wayne ( Gayne Whitman), urged her to file for a divorce. Since neither one will leave the family home, lawyers ask witnesses to prove that the husband and wife are living apart. Due to Henry's alleged violent temper, Effie's lawyer demands that she have a bodyguard: a thug named Gooch (

Frank Hagney Frank Sidney Hagney (20 March 1884 – 25 June 1973) was an Australian actor. He is known for his work on '' It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946), '' Ride Him, Cowboy'' (1932) and '' The Sea Beast'' (1926). Early life and career Born in Sydney, ...

) who stays at the home. When Effie decides to stop the divorce, her lawyer stages a scene. His girlfriend Nan (Florence Wright) poses as the blonde Henry was supposedly seeing, and convinces Effie to proceed. It is only then that the live-in witnesses, her niece Jane ( Luana Walters), and Henry's friend Bob Grant ( Ralph Byrd) notice that the shoe Henry brought back that night is too small for Nan. Jane also notices that Gooch and Nan seem to recognize each other, and tricks Gooch into calling Nan. They overhear her on an extension phone and get the truth out of her. A tipsy Henry drags the mannequin all over town, only to meet the police, Effie, and her lawyer waiting for him at home.

Cast

as Henry Butler * Betty Blythe as Effie Butler * Ralph Byrd as Bob Grant *

as Grace Norman * Gayne Whitman as Gilbert Wayne * Luana Walters as Jane Forbes *

as Floor Walker *

as Gooch Mulligan * Fred Kelsey as Sgt. Murphy * Mary MacLaren as Gossiping Friend * Gertrude Astor as Gossiping Friend

Quotes

Effie to Jane: "I'm going to get ''

tight Tight may refer to: Clothing * Skin-tight garment, a garment that is held to the skin by elastic tension * Tights, a type of leg coverings fabric extending from the waist to feet * Tightlacing, the practice of wearing a tightly-laced corset ...

''!" Bob to Jane: "You've been reading too many detective stories." (inside joke: Ralph Byrd played detective Dick Tracy, in four movie serials and two feature films, from 1937 to 1947, and on television.) Henry: "All this fuss over one little shoe!"

Production and reception

''Misbehaving Husbands'' was produced by Hollywood promoter Jed Buell on a very small budget. Buell was friendly with

, who had been a top director until an ill-fated business trip to England resulted in depleted finances and fewer opportunities to work. Buell hired Beaudine, and Beaudine worked closely with Langdon in the staging of the comedy sequences. Langdon's silent-screen character had been that of a hesitant, wide-eyed, babyish simpleton who had trouble dealing with adult problems. Beginning in 1938 Langdon had been experimenting with a new "henpecked husband" screen personality, similar to the timid Caspar Milquetoast of the comic strips, and used this characterization in ''Misbehaving Husbands''. The finished film was distributed by

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

, the smallest of the Hollywood studios. The Langdon-Beaudine collaboration was very successful, and both the star and director received excellent notices.''Boxoffice'', Dec. 12, 1940, p. 10. Langdon and Beaudine continued their respective careers in low-budget features, many for

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

References

External links

* * {{William Beaudine 1940 romantic comedy films 1940 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Producers Releasing Corporation films Films directed by William Beaudine American romantic comedy films 1940s American films English-language romantic comedy films