After a Portugese freighter rescues her off an island in the Pacific, Irene Dunne returns to her husband and children seven years later--only to find spouse Cary Grant has only recently gotten remarried. Fans of Doris Day's 1963 screwball farce "Move Over, Darling" will find this original version of the story lacking in zesty humor. Director Garson Kanin keeps the comic confusion light on its feet, yet the results are possibly too sober (it's a dizzy farce without any fizz). Dunne and Grant are more like joshing pals than husband and wife, and their two tots are a little brash (there's a terrible interlude where the kids entertain the grown-ups, and the reaction shots of Grant look as though they were edited in from another movie). The wrap-up is over-stretched, cooling out all the fire from this scenario, and poor Randolph Scott (who shared the island with Dunne) is given the short shrift. There are some funny scenes, and merry musical cues which help pick up the slack, but this is an instance where the remake improves upon the original. **1/2 from ****
Review of My Favorite Wife
