Movie Review: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Lawyer David Smith (Robert Montgomery) discovers that his marriage to Ann (Carole Lombard) is invalid due to a legal technicality. Too bad he was honest at breakfast that morning and told her that if he had to do it all over again, he would have remained single. He really does love his wife and the bickering/make-up dynamic of their relationship. The timing is just off and Ann is ready to go back to being Miss Krausheimer. As with all the screwball comedies of that era, they wind up in a series of awkward and hilarious social situations as David tries to fix his stupid mistake.

Hitchcock seems like an odd choice as director since there's little sinister or mysterious in this comedy. He uses some of his visual flourishes and keeps the story briskly paced (which is important for a screwball comedy lest the audience think too much about the absurdity and unlikelihood). The actors are charming with Lombard shining as the glamorous blonde so familiar in other Hitchcock films. The show is delightful from beginning to end. A viewer might not guess that it's a Hitchcock film but the clues are there.

Highly recommended.