"My Wife's Best Friend" from 1952 is a cute comedy that could have been riotous.
A couple is on an airplane that they are afraid is going to crash. The husband confesses to his wife that while she was away once, he had an affair with her best friend.
Unfortunately, the plane doesn't crash and they survive. He can kiss his life goodbye anyway.
She finally forgives him, but that's worse.
The film stars Macdonald Carey and Anne Baxter as the couple, with a supporting cast of Cecil Kellaway, Max Showalter, and Francis Bavier.
There were some fun bits in this, particularly when Virginia, the wife, imagines herself being noble like Joan of Arc, or some other heroines not quite so noble.
So despite a good story and good dialogue, why didn't this work for me? Well, here it is. Anne Baxter and Macdonald Carey were both good actors, but they were not experts in comedy. That wouldn't have been a problem except that in Baxter's case, she tried to DO comedy. If she had played it straight and let the humor come from the character instead of striking an attitude, it would have been funny.
Still worth seeing as it's a pleasant film.
A couple is on an airplane that they are afraid is going to crash. The husband confesses to his wife that while she was away once, he had an affair with her best friend.
Unfortunately, the plane doesn't crash and they survive. He can kiss his life goodbye anyway.
She finally forgives him, but that's worse.
The film stars Macdonald Carey and Anne Baxter as the couple, with a supporting cast of Cecil Kellaway, Max Showalter, and Francis Bavier.
There were some fun bits in this, particularly when Virginia, the wife, imagines herself being noble like Joan of Arc, or some other heroines not quite so noble.
So despite a good story and good dialogue, why didn't this work for me? Well, here it is. Anne Baxter and Macdonald Carey were both good actors, but they were not experts in comedy. That wouldn't have been a problem except that in Baxter's case, she tried to DO comedy. If she had played it straight and let the humor come from the character instead of striking an attitude, it would have been funny.
Still worth seeing as it's a pleasant film.