Mr And Mrs Smith [VHS]

A rarity from Alfred Hitchcock - a screwball comedy dating from 1941 starring Carole Lombard (only months before her tragically early death) and Robert Montgomery as the eponymous Mr and Mrs Smith. New York based Ann and David have been married for three years and are prone to fallings out that can last for days, and at the start of the film we see one of these in progress then being resolved. Ann is feisty, and that's where some of the comedy comes from as David tries to work around the latest spat.After the issue is resolved Lawyer David can finally get back to work with legal partner Jeff. However an official calls to see David and explains that owing to a technicality David and Ann's marriage isn't legal, having taken place in Ann's home town in Idaho. He is a personal friend of Ann's, asking David to remember him to her. Giving David his $2 marriage fee back he states they ought to get married in a civil ceremony as soon as possible, which David finds amusing.Taking his leave the man catches a taxi, but by chance passing David and Ann's street he diverts the taxi to catch up with Ann and impart the same news to her and her visiting mother. Ann arranges to meet David after work, squeezes herself into the same dress he popped the question in and suggests attending the same restaurant they got engaged in that evening. Expecting David to mention the issue all through the evening he does not, and when they finally reach home she faces him with the news and another row ensues.Doesn't sound much like a comedy? At times it does struggle, but the comedy comes from the misfiring relationship between David and Ann, her enlisting David's partner Jeff as council for their separation, Ann deliberately beginning a relationship with teetotaller Jeff to spite David, with some lovely moments in a nightclub and stuck on a fairground ride; Ann convincing Jeff to down spirits and treat it like medicine (which became a recurring Hitchcock theme in several subsequent films); and lovely cameos from actors playing Ann's mother and Jeff's horrified parents.It's a simple tale of David trying to win Ann back after getting banished to his club to sleep and the stubborn-headedness of Ann to make David pay for his sins. Lombard plays her role well, indeed for this period it's a treat to see a strong female portrayed. Cummings igs less satisfactory and indeed was only employed a week before filming commenced after Hitchcock failed to attract Cary Grant to the role. His Girl Friday this isn't, not all the jokes work, though it's a worthy attempt. A minor Hitchcock, but a curiosity worth seeking out.

Mr and Mrs Smith argue a lot but spend a lot of time making up. Mr Smith gers a visitor at work who informs him that due to a technicality he might not actually be married. Alfred Hitchcock did the odd comedy as well as his more famous thrillers. This isn't up among his best films nor is it up among the all time great 40's screwball comedies but it is fun and amusing with good performances from Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery. Worth a look for Hitchcock fans.

A lilm drawn in 1941; the story of husband and wife in love and hardies (for nothing), whose marriage in the west is made void by a strange clause just arrived by a little man from that place; the ex wife then refuses to live with her ex husband and flirts with a suitable friend. With a final, positive good sense and love ending in the mountains. I knew about this movie when, still very young boy, I saw it down there in 1944 just liberated by our anglo-americans, and desired to see it again. Essentially, a pleasant simple story of the love between two people who very often bicker together for days about nothing and never leave their bedroom till they reconcile. I never saw the more recent version.

The plot turns on the surprise discovery that owing to a technicality Mrs and Mr Smith are not really married, and his inexplicable delay in informing her of this fact. She believes he didn't want to tell her at all, and indeed that he is happy to end their relationship. From then on it is all compelling glorious Lombard, as every attempt David makes to win her back founders on her proud mistrust of him. There could only be one outcome of course, and the question is how will he prevail, not if. And just as in every film she made Carole Lombard manages at least one look, one riposte, one line that makes you fall in love with her all over again, Mr and Mrs Smith is no exception. There are many such moments here, but the best comes when Anne is taking leave of a drunken but impeccably behaved Gene Raymond, and she remarks ever so matter-of-factly "You're probably dying to kiss me but haven't got the nerve...you may." WONDERFUL!

I am a longtime fan of Mr Hitchcock and own most of his works on DVD but had shied away from this one as I generally detest the romantic/screwball comedy genres. I finally relented and purchased Mr & Mrs Smith. Picture and sound quality are comparable to other Hitch's of this vintage (fine/alright) but what a strange concoction the film is. I didn't hate it. Mr & Mrs Smith have a very strange relationship indeed. For its period the movie has an unusual darkness of mood and coldness of character in places - I guess these elements are the Hitchcock touch at work. Certainly not the froth and bubble lightweight fare I had imagined it would be. Not a film you'll want to watch often but if you're anything like me and something of a completest you may watch this every few years when you chronologically watch your way through the entire Hitch catalogue.

Unusually for Hitchcock this is a romantic comedy that works very well starring Robert Montgomery & Carole Lombard. Plenty of clever touches from Hitchcock.

The story goes that Hitch only directed this at the pleading of Miss Lombard and his lack of interest is painfully obvious. There is very little Hitch here and even less comedy between the two unlikeable lead characters. Domestic miss indeed.