Review of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) by Bob V — 29 Mar 2011

Alfred Hitchcock's only screwball comedy is a product of the divorced/remarried genre, which was very popular during the -excuse the pun- heyday of the Hay's Code, since all explicit references to adultery were made impossible by it. By having a couple divorce (or as here, find out their original marriage ceremony was illegal due to a technicality) they could run along with what is basically a plot about cheating spouses, only to have them reunite in the end. The genre was done to death from the second half of the thirties, and not even Hitchcock, and an A list cast manage to add anything new to the formula. While entertaining enough, Hitch clearly only directed one of these for a reason.

The film is nowadays better known for star Carole Lombard's humorous antics than for its own achievements. Miss Lombard got to direct Hitch during his signature cameo and made him do endless retakes for his very brief walk-on scenes. To call him out on his famous saying "Actors are cattle" ** , she arrived at the set with 3 calves bearing nameplates of the 3 principal actors. She would also rush to the parking lot every day to hang up re-elect FDR stickers, knowing that her fellow castmembers supported a different political party than she did. I've always thought Carole was a hoot, and I wish I could have had dinner with her and Clark Gable during the brief time they were married before she so tragically died much too young.

Anyway, as predisposed as I am to like both Hitch & Carole, this film, while nowhere near bad, is far from excellent.

** Hitch even more famously clarified when asked later that he never said actors are cattle, he only said they should be treated like cattle.