Guest Wife
Cast & Crew
Sam Wood
Claudette Colbert
Don Ameche
Richard Foran
Charles Dingle
Grant Mitchell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Christopher Price, a banker, and his wife Mary prepare to leave the small town of Keetoosen, Ohio, to go on a second honeymoon in New York City. Before they can leave, however, Chris receives a telegram from his old childhood friend, noted foreign correspondent Joe Parker, telling them that he is in transit to their home. Upon his arrival, Joe tells Chris and Mary that he has been ordered back to New York by his boss, A. T. Worth, who thinks that Joe is married to Mary, because Joe once lied to him that he had gotten married in order to take a vacation. Chris agrees to help Joe continue the deception, over Mary's objections. When they discover that the train to New York is full, Chris stays behind in Keetoosen while Joe and Mary head off. Arriving in New York, Joe and Mary are whisked off the train and taken directly to the publisher's office, where Worth has arranged a press conference with photographers and newsreel cameras. Later, Worth tells Mary how touched he has been by her letters, especially one in which she describes being nursed back to health by her "loving" husband. Meanwhile, back in Keetoosen, Chris is pulled off the New York train by Arnold, his boss, who accuses him of living with another man's wife, having seen Joe and Mary's photograph on the front page of a Cleveland newspaper. Chris is then forced to stay in Keetoosen to avert a bank scandal, much to Mary's chagrin. Later, Mary is recognized at a nightclub by a shoe salesman from Keetoosen, and she and Joe try unsuccessfully to convince him that she is "Mrs. Parker's" Turkish double. Chris finally arrives in New York the next evening, and his attentiveness toward "Mrs. Parker" soon attracts the attention of both the hotel detective and Worth. Upset at being continually separated from Chris, Mary lies to Susy, Joe's old girl friend, that she is in love with the reporter. Mary then accepts Worth's invitation to stay at his Long Island estate, despite Joe's objections. Later, Chris sneaks onto Worth's estate, where Joe has been convinced by Mary that she is in love with him. When Joe rejects her advances, Mary pretends to contemplate suicide. Seeing Joe and Mary out on the balcony in their pajamas, Chris becomes jealous, kicks open their bedroom door, punches Joe and leave Worth's estate with Mary in tow. Finally recognizing Mary's hoax, Joe pretends to be the noble husband who has let his wife go for her own happiness and accepts Worth's comforting. In turn, Mary informs Chris how happy she is that he has finally "carried the ball," placing himself before his friend, Joe.
Director
Sam Wood
Cast
Claudette Colbert
Don Ameche
Richard Foran
Charles Dingle
Grant Mitchell
Wilma Francis
Chester Clute
Irving Bacon
Hal K. Dawson
Edward Fielding
Ed Gargan
Grady Sutton
Crew
Daniele Amfitheatrof
Lionel Banks
Joseph I. Kane
John Klorer
William Lynch
Bruce Manning
Bruce Manning
Wm. M. Morgan
Edward Nelson
Jack Noyes
George E. Sawley
John Sherwood
Arthur Siteman
Jack H. Skirball
Jack H. Skirball
Jack Sullivan
Joseph Valentine
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Music, Original or Comedy Series
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was What Every Woman Wants. This was the first film to star actress Claudette Colbert after the completion of her contract with Paramount. She and her co-star, Don Ameche, had previously appeared together in the 1939 Paramount film Midnight (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2853). According to New York Times, producers Jack Skirball and Bruce Manning made Guest Wife under a profit-sharing agreement with Colbert and Ameche. Hollywood Reporter news items state that Guest Wife was made on a budget of $1,750,000. Hollywood Reporter news items also report that portions of the film were shot on location in the High Sierras near Bishop, CA. Second unit photography was completed in Acapulco, Mexico. According to Hollywood Reporter, Henry F. Ladon was cast in Guest Wife, but his appearance in the released film was not been confirmed. Daniele Amfitheatrof received an Academy Award nomination for his musical score for this film, but lost to Miklos Rozsa's work on Spellbound . Don Ameche and Richard Foran reprised their Guest Wife roles with Olivia De Havilland on a December 10, 1945 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast.
