Fired Wife
Cast & Crew
Charles Lamont
Diana Barrymore
Robert Paige
Louise Allbritton
Walter Abel
George Dolenz
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Madison Avenue advertising executive Hank Dunne elopes with Tabitha "Tig" Callahan, the personal assistant to theatrical producer Chris McClelland. The two plan to honeymoon in Hank's Indiana hometown, but Tig is drawn back to New York when Chris offers to let her direct his new play. Tig tells Hank that they must keep their marriage secret, as Chris refuses to work with married people. While Tig meets with Chris and her leading man, Oscar Blix, Hank is forced to babysit radio performer Eve Starr. When Hank goes to Chris's theater and fights with Tig, the producer has him arrested, and Hank spends the night in jail. The next day, Hank and Tig plan to leave once again on their secret honeymoon, but Chris arrives and orders Tig to marry Oscar so that the foreigner can remain in the United States. The upset Hank then exposes their marriage, and Chris fires Tig. After the newlyweds fight, Hank goes into work, where he learns that Eve has run off with millionaire playboy Willie Wilson. Hank and his partner, Orin Tracy, rush to the playboy's home on Long Island, where Eve tells gossip columnist Jerry Donohue that she is secretly married to Hank. While Hank tries to explain things to Eve, Tig meets with Chris and his attorney, who unsuccessfully try to talk her into a divorce. Tig then drives to the Wilson estate just in time to see Hank and Eve being arrested. Tig goes to Reno to get a divorce, but Hank follows her there, and the two are reconciled. Once again, they try to go on their Indiana honeymoon, but soon begin fighting over Hank's relationship with Eve, prompting Tig to go through with the divorce. Back in New York, Tig learns that she is pregnant, and her physician orders her to quit the play. In order to stop Hank and Tig from remarrying, Chris and Eve decide to combine forces. At Hank's apartment, Eve tells Tig that she and Hank plan to marry. Chris then convinces the heartbroken Tig to marry Oscar. Charles, Hank's butler, warns his boss about Chris and Eve's deceptions, however, and Hank chases after Tig and Oscar. He arrives just in time to remarry Tig and learns that he is going to be a father.
Director
Charles Lamont
Cast
Diana Barrymore
Robert Paige
Louise Allbritton
Walter Abel
George Dolenz
Rex Ingram
Ernest Truex
Alan Dinehart
Walter Catlett
Richard Lane
Samuel S. Hinds
Wade Boteler
Edgar Dearing
Robert Emmett Keane
Pierre Watkin
Marek Windheim
Eddie Dunn
Harry Strang
Benny Bartlett
Charles Coleman
John Frazer
Jacqueline Dalya
Linda Brent
Jean Trent
Mary Moore
Dorothy Granger
Beatrice Roberts
Vivian Austin
Virginia Engels
Gladys Blake
Sylvia Field
Billy Newell
Frank Austin
Jean Debriac
Jan Wiley
Herbert Heywood
Eddie Bruce
Claire Meade
Rebel Randall
Mary Gale
Hank Bell
Alice Fleming
Charles Mcavoy
Crew
Bernard B. Brown
Charles Carroll
Michael Fessier
R. A. Gausman
A. J. Gilmore
John B. Goodman
Alex Gottlieb
Jack Gross
Paul Ivano
Paul Landres
Martin Obzina
Ernest Pagano
Charles Previn
Frank Skinner
Seward Webb
Vera West
Hagar Wilde
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film begins with the following written foreword: "There is an old French proverb which says: 'As the ownership of a violin does not make a man a musician, neither does the possession of a husband make a woman a wife, and a woman is not a wife until she learns the art of being married.'" Hollywood Reporter news items add the following information about the production: In November 1941, Universal announced that it was preparing a film entitled Fired Wife, to star actress Rosalind Russell. The film was planned as a sequel to the 1940 Universal film Hired Wife, which starred Russell and Brian Aherne (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.1922), and was originally scheduled to begin shooting on November 28, 1941. Russell, however, who was a freelance artist, had already agreed to star in the Columbia film Take a Letter, Darling , so the production was rescheduled for January 1942. In late November 1941, Russell agreed to star in another Columbia film, My Sister Eileen (see entry above), so William A. Seiter, who had directed Hired Wife and had been assigned to this production as well, announced that he would recast the female lead, rather than wait for Russell's availability. The production was eventually shelved and Seiter went on to direct the 1942 Universal film Broadway (see entry above). It has not been determined if any elements of this planned production were used in the subsequent version of Fired Wife.
In March 1943, Universal announced that Fired Wife was going into production at the studio, starring Diana Barrymore and Robert Cummings. Cummings, however, refused to do the role, and in March 1944, New York Times reported that the actor received a $10,700 judgment against the studio, claiming that Universal had voided his contract when it suspended him without pay upon his refusal to appear in this film. While Hollywood Reporter production charts include Bobby Brooks in the cast, it has not been determined if he appeared in the released film. Actor Walter Abel was borrowed from Paramount for the production, which was producer Alex Gottlieb's last Universal film.
