Film

My Favorite Wife

Name: My Favorite Wife
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: 1940
Cast: Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick, Ann Shoemaker

A spirited 1940 screwball comedy where Cary Grant's remarried husband gets delightfully tangled when his supposedly-dead first wife returns. It's breezy, fast-talking, and built on mistaken identities and bedroom-door chaos. Perfect for anyone who loves Golden Age Hollywood wit and the particular joy of watching attractive people lie their way through increasingly implausible situations.

TMDb rating

3.5

If you liked this

It Happened One Night1934

The template for screwball comedy: a runaway heiress and a reporter, rapid banter, genuine chemistry, and a road trip that never stops moving. Gable and Colbert are irresistible.

But The Depression-era plotting feels quaint, and some of the gender politics have aged poorly.

His Girl Friday1940

Released the same year, this newsroom farce has the same machine-gun dialogue and marital chaos as My Favorite Wife. Grant's ex-wife wants him back; his new wife wants a divorce. Hilarity is contractually obligated.

But The overlapping dialogue can be exhausting if you're not in the mood to lean in and listen hard.

The Philadelphia Story1940

Another 1940 gem with Grant, plus Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart. It's romantic comedy operating at peak intelligence—witty, heartfelt, and so perfectly cast that it feels inevitable.

But It's more refined and less anarchic than My Favorite Wife; if you want pure chaos, this is the more civilized cousin.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from My Favorite Wife

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Palm Beach Story1942

Both play marriage as a game of deception and desire—partners at odds, never quite honest with each other or themselves, yet genuinely in love. The con never quite fools anyone, least of all them.

Preston Sturges' masterpiece: a wife who abandons her husband to find a millionaire to fund his invention, only for him to chase her across Florida. It has the same marital chaos as My Favorite Wife but with warmer heart and sharper social observation. Claudette Colbert is brilliant.

But It's a talky film about wealthy people solving wealthy problems, and the satire doesn't quite save it if you're resistant to that world.

Bringing Up Baby1938

Cary Grant opposite Katharine Hepburn in perhaps the platonic ideal of screwball madness: mistaken identities, a leopard, and dialogue that tumbles over itself. It moves like nothing else.

But The pacing is relentless and the plot is pure nonsense—which is the point, but not everyone finds nonsense at speed funny.

The Awful Truth1937

Grant and Irene Dunne (his co-star from My Favorite Wife) with a divorce, remarriage complications, and a dog. Director Leo McCarey understood that the best screwball comedy is about real affection buried under absurdity.

But Some scenes drag, and the tone wavers between bedroom farce and genuine sentiment in ways that don't always land.

Twentieth Century1934

Carole Lombard and John Barrymore on a cross-country train, with ego, theatricality, and lines that ping like bullets. It's controlled chaos in a confined space—expert stuff.

But Barrymore's theatrical scenery-chewing won't appeal if you prefer understated comedy.

Easy Living1937

A working girl mistaken for a millionaire, a fur coat, and Jean Arthur's ability to make absurdity feel like genuine confusion. Gleeful and inventive without feeling cruel.

But It's lighter and fluffier than My Favorite Wife—less plot momentum, more whimsy.

The Lady Eve1941

Barbara Stanwyck as a con artist after Henry Fonda's naive heir. Preston Sturges directed this, and it has more bite and sexual tension than typical screwball fare.

But The second half leans into slapstick in ways that undercut the first half's sophistication.

Woman of the Year1942

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn's first pairing. It's about professional equals who collide romantically, with brains matching charm. Witty without being frantic.

But It slows down considerably in the middle, and the ending tries to retroactively make a point about feminine ambition that feels uncomfortable now.

The Divorcee1930

Both feature a remarried spouse caught between two marriages, but where My Favorite Wife makes hay from the chaos, The Divorcee asks whether the person caught in the middle ever truly recovers. Same premise, opposite register.

Norma Shearer wins an Oscar for her role as a woman unapologetically living her sexual freedom after divorce. It's a serious drama with surprising lightness, exploring what My Favorite Wife treats as comedy—remarriage, infidelity, and the question of whether love can survive betrayal. Startlingly modern.

But It's a tone poem rather than a plot, and it takes itself seriously in ways that feel slow if you're expecting entertainment first.

Phantom Lady1944

Both traffic in identity confusion and people being caught in false narratives about their own lives, but Phantom Lady asks what happens when those lies have fatal consequences. The same machinery, running much darker.

A suspense thriller where Ella Raines' heroine must prove her husband innocent of murder by finding a mysterious woman who can corroborate his alibi. It has the energy and pace of screwball comedy—the constant motion, the lies, the disguises—but weaponized for noir dread. The club scene alone is cinema.

But It's dark and genuinely tense, with violence and sexuality that can be unsettling. If you want comedy, this is a bait-and-switch.