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DVD Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Before Hollywood had entirely typecast Alfred Hitchcock as the master of suspense, with Mr. & Mrs. Smith he was allowed to fashion an elegant romantic trifle starring Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard. It probably won't replace Rear Window or Psycho in your affections, but the film is more than a curious footnote to the director's career. The two leads play David and Ann Smith, a devoted but endlessly squabbling couple who discover their three-year marriage isn't legal. When he unexpectedly hesitates to arrange a second wedding, she storms out in a huff and soon begins dating his solid, dependable business partner Jeff (Gene Raymond). The rest follows the formula laid down by such previous screwball comedies as The Awful Truth (1937) and Bringing Up Baby (1938): David employs fair means or foul to win back Ann's heart, causes all sorts of complicated mischief, then... well, three guesses what happens in the end.
The intriguing thing about the movie is how Hitchcock takes Norman Krasna's paper-thin script and adds sly undercurrents of menace. Violence seems about to erupt in the recurring scenes where Ann shaves her husband (suggestively holding a razor up to his throat)--and there's a touch of Vertigo in one scary moment when a jammed amusement park ride leaves two characters dangling helplessly high above the ground. Montgomery and Lombard keep the mood acceptably frivolous, while indicating the flawed nature of the marital relationship. From the evidence of this one-off, Hitchcock might have been among the best comedy directors in the business, had he so wished. --Peter Matthews
"If you had it all to do over again, would you still have married me?"
MR AND MRS SMITH is an entertaining though not spectacular film. It is very easy to see this film and not realize that it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock because, frankly, it does not have that Hitchcock feel to it, to say the least. It is a silly little comedy, but it does star Carole Lombard as Mrs. Smith and that alone would make any film worth viewing. However, Robert Montgomery, in my opinion, even outshines Ms. Lombard in his role as Mr. Smith.
The plot if the story is very simple. Mrs. Smith adoringly asks her husband of three years, "If you had it all to do over again, would you still have married me?" When Mr. Smith answers "Honestly, no," he sets himself up for the doghouse. Remarkably, the very next day, it is revealed that through a geographical technicality, it turns out that Mr. and Mrs. Smith were never legally married at all. Mrs. Smith wastes no time in kicking Mr. Smith out on the curb. Hijinks ensue.
The humor in this movie feels a bit dated, but it still works. Mrs. Smith comes off as ludicrously capricious, but one is not expecting great art here. In fact, MR AND MRS SMITH, at times, feels like an extended episode of I LOVE LUCY at times. I would hardly consider this to be a classic, but it is worth a viewing, particularly if you want to see a different side of Hitchcock or just enjoy the comic stylings of Lombard and Montgomery.
Jeremy W. Forstadt
Dated by today's comedy standards, but very worthwhile for old-time comedy buffs or movie historians.
This review is for the 2004 Warner Brothers DVD.
This was Hitchcock's first and last attempt of directing a comedy. 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' is a comical farce about a married couple named Anne (Carole Lombard) and David Smith (Robert Montgomery) who clearly have some relationship issues since Anne has an established pattern of spending days at a time in bed anytime she has a disagreement with her husband. After making up from their latest tiff, Anne asks David, "If given the chance to go back in time would you marry me again"? His instant response is "No", but then realizes he's made a terrible gaff and unsuccessfully tries to cover his tracks, but at least does enough damage control to keep them together. Shortly after David learns that through a legal snafu, their marriage is void. When Anne learns about this legal wrinkle, she separates and this sets up a cat and mouse game between the two seeing if they can salvage their relationship.
As much as I like Hitchcock and Carole Lombard, both Hollywood legends in their own right, I can't say this movie worked magic for me. I do know that films like this were very popular in their day, but I didn't find any of it laugh-out-loud funny, although some of scenes put a smile on my face. I did like the slice of life look of the film as it showed many interesting backdrops including several original interior shots plus scenes at an amusement park and a ski resort. If you like screwball comedies from this era, you will probably be very entertained with the film. If you don't like that type of humor, or hope to find lots of Hitchcock's creative artistry and cinematic brilliance, you will probably be disappointed with the film.
The B&W picture quality of this DVD is sharp and crisp but tiny specs of film deterioration showed up sporadically throughout the movie. The sound was very satisfactory for a film this old. The only bonus on the DVD is a short commentary about the film.
Movie: C
DVD Quality: B+
The ORIGINAL Mr. and Mrs. Smith!
Excellent cast (Robert Montgomery, Carole Lombard), wonderful director (Alfred Hitchcock in the only comedy that he ever directed) and a screw-ball story that is on the order of Bringing up Baby. The writing is crisp and clever and reminiscent of some of the classic Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy comedies.
There are no special effects, and the set design is simple and uncomplicated. This is a lovely film, and the black and white only adds to the charm.
Buy this movie as it will be a wonderful addition to your film library.
The first of Alfred Hitchcock's World War II features, Foreign Correspondent was completed in 1940, as the European war was only beginning to erupt across national borders. Its titular hero, Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea), is an American crime reporter dispatched by his New York publisher to put a fresh spin on the drowsy dispatches emanating from overseas, his nose for a good story (and, of course, some fortuitous timing) promptly leading him to the "crime" of fascism and Nazi Germany's designs on European conquest.
In attempting to learn more about a seemingly noble peace effort, Jones (who's been saddled with the dubious nom du plume Hadley Haverstock) walks into the middle of an assassination, uncovers a spy ring, and, not entirely coincidentally, falls in love--a pattern... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Joel McCrea - Laraine Day Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Repeated viewings can't dispel the shock of the final scene in this classic 1941 romantic mystery--a brief but disorienting confrontation that suddenly inverts the heroine's mounting conviction that she's married a murderer, forcing us to reconsider virtually every scene and line of dialogue that's preceded it. It's a masterful coup de grace for director Alfred Hitchcock, who has built a puzzle around the corrosive power of suspicion, threaded with deft ambiguities that toy with dramatic conventions and character archetypes in nearly every frame.
As embodied by Joan Fontaine, who nabbed an Oscar in this second outing with the director, Lina McLaidlaw is a buttoned-up, bookish heiress whose prim exterior conceals longings for a more engaged emotional life. Her solution materializes in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Joan Fontaine - Cary Grant Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I love all of Hitchcock's movies, so it's hard to pick a favorite, but this one would be near the top. The plot is full of suspense and humor, the actors are perfect in their respective parts, especially Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman. Any movie where Marlene sings is a must-see anyway, much less in a Hitchcock movie! Lots of comic bits sprinkled throughout the movie offset the suspense and deadly points perfectly. When I first saw the movie years ago, I was completely fooled right up to the point with Wyman and Richard Todd hiding beneath the stage. But I still watch the movie about once a year and thoroughly enjoy it every time. A must for any Hitchcock fan who may have never seen this true gem. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jane Wyman - Marlene Dietrich - Richard Todd Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Alfred Hitchcock was fond of telling the story about how his father discouraged his son from even the slightest criminal impulse by having young Alfred locked in a police holding cell for a brief period--a terrifying experience Hitchcock never forgot. Much of the fear from that childhood incident resonates through The Wrong Man, which is unique among Hitchcock's films in that it is based entirely on a factual case that occurred in New York City in January 1953. As Hitchcock states in a shadowy prologue, authenticity was his primary goal--including the use of actual names and locations from the case--and the film gains considerable power from Hitchcock's semi-documentary approach (a film noir style that was still in vogue when Hitchcock shot this film in 1957).
Among the earliest writers to set his sights on the director's chair, Preston Sturges brought a frank, unsentimental view of the war between the sexes to his mid-'40s features that exemplify his style, as demonstrated in this prescient 1942 gem. Architect Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) and his wife, Gerry (Claudette Colbert), further refine the archetypal Sturges couple--the male embodying strength, idealism, and a certain naivete, the female ultimately stronger, smarter, and (as revealed early on in an astonishing speech by Colbert) clearer-eyed and more pragmatic about the subtext of sex. This giddy shaggy-dog story follows the couple's split, and Gerry's subsequent flight to Palm Beach. This head-snapping frolic is paced by double-entendres and lampooning looks at the very rich, with... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Claudette Colbert - Joel McCrea Director(s): Preston Sturges DVD Release Date: Released the 01 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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