James Garner and Doris Day did their own version of this story in the 1963 film “Move Over, Darling,” but “My Favorite Wife” starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne is the classic original. Cary Grant plays Nick Alden, widower of seven years, who has decided it’s time to move on and get remarried. His wife, Ellen, has not been pronounced legally dead, however. She was shipwrecked and no body was ever found. Nick gets a judge to proclaim her dead, and then in the next breath, asks the judge to marry him and his new bride, Bianca.
On their way to the honeymoon suite, Nick sees something he never thought he’d see again – Ellen, his first wife, walking toward him across the hotel lobby. He ensconces Bianca in a suite and goes to find Ellen, wondering all the while how it is that she’s not dead. (She lived on a desert island, eating fruit, until rescued by some fishermen.) He never stopped loving her, and in his mind there’s no question about who he wants to be with. But he just got married! What will he do with his new wife?
The movie turns into a scrambled up madhouse as Nick tries to keep Bianca from seeing Ellen until he can get everything explained. But that’s just it – every time he goes to explain, he can’t find the words. He doesn’t want to break anyone’s heart, but he can’t be married to two women at the same time! Ellen feels that his reluctance to tell Bianca means that he doesn’t want to tell her. Maybe he’d rather be married to Bianca instead.
Just when Nick thinks things can’t get any worse, they do. It turns out that Ellen was not alone on that island; there was a man there too, a very good-looking man. Suddenly he has reason to doubt her, and there they are, wondering about each other’s true feelings. But true love always wins out in the end, and they get things ironed out to everyone’s satisfaction. Well, maybe not to Bianca’s satisfaction.
This is one of Cary Grant’s most famous films, and with very good reason. I particularly like Irene Dunne playing opposite him; she doesn’t get lost in his charisma and gives him as good as she gets.
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