Too Many Husbands (Columbia 1940, Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray)

Unintentional bigamy must have tickled the funnybone in classic Hollywood because the mistakenly-deceased-spouse routine shows up again and again. Too Many Husbands though is one of the best trots around the block for the old wheeze as Jean Arthur believes her husband Fred MacMurray to have perished in a shipwreck.

She finds solace with Melvyn Douglas, but when MacMurray turns up alive, healthy and quite handsome, Arthur’s in a delightful pickle as the center of attention. The men become friends and sort things out themselves. The leads make this worthwhile.

Retitled as My Two Husbands for the UK market and remade as Three for the Show in 1955 with Betty Grable. The exact same plot was also used for My Favourite Wife and Move Over Darling.

Academy Award Nomination: Best Sound.

production details
USA | Columbia | 81 minutes | 1940
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Script: W. Somerset Maugham, Claude Binyon,

cast
Fred MacMurray as Bill Cardew
Jean Arthur as Vicky Lowndes
Edgar Buchanan as McDermott
Billy Wayne as Taxicab Driver
Bert Stevens as Nightclub Patron
Tom Dugan as Sullivan
Dave Willock as Elevator Operator
James Millican as Nightclub Patron
Melvyn Douglas as Henry Lowndes
Carl M. Leviness as Passenger at Airport
Harry Davenport as George
Dorothy Peterson as Gertrude Houlihan
Melville Cooper as Peter
William Brisbane as Lawyer
James Conaty as Nightclub Patron
Sam McDaniel as Porter
Frank McLure as Nightclub Patron
Larry Steers as Nightclub Patron
Jacques Vanaire as Headwaiter