Twin Beds
Cast & Crew
Tim Whelan
George Brent
Joan Bennett
Mischa Auer
Una Merkel
Glenda Farrell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As they walk down the aisle during their wedding ceremony, Julie and Mike Abbott argue about Julie's involvement with the USO, which will prevent them from taking a honeymoon. Mike soon becomes dissatisfied with his marriage because Julie is too busy with work to spend any time with him, and the tabloids publish lurid reports about the various men who are pursuing her. One night, Julie throws an engagement party for Larky, her former suitor, who is engaged to her friend, Lydia, even though she promised Mike a quiet dinner together at home. Mike is repelled by the snobby crowd in his apartment and becomes jealous when their neighbor, Russian opera singer Nicolai Cherupin, pursues Julie. Cherupin's wife Sonya apprises Mike of the key warning signs indicating that her errant husband is falling for another woman. When Nicolai brings him a gourmet meal, which is the third sign, Mike throws him out of the apartment. Later that night, Julie snubs Mike because she thinks he distrusts her, and he declares that they may as well have twin beds. Mike and Julie make up until Nicolai is heard singing I pagliacci , the fourth sign, which means he is about to make a conquest. Mike insists that they move to another apartment building, but unknown to them, Lydia, who caught Julie and Larky in an innocent embrace during the party, has insisted that they move, and Sonya, who is jealous of Nicolai's flirtation with Julie, has also decided to move. All three couples end up in the same building, and Mike is dismayed to find that his casual remark during his fight with Julie has resulted in separate beds. Nicolai believes that Julie has purposely followed him to the new building, and starts to sing to her in his apartment. When Mike hears him singing, he leaves Julie. Nicolai then tries to woo Julie, who angrily insists that he never call her again. Nicolai gets drunk and when he returns to the building, the security guard mistakenly lets him into the Abbotts' apartment. Nicolai collapses in Mike's bed, and Julie is horrified to find him there in the morning. Mike, meanwhile, has boarded a train for Canada, but decides to return to Julie after receiving sage marital advice from an avowed bachelor. When Mike returns, Julie is trying to get rid of Nicolai, who is suffering from a severe hangover, and she forces Nicolai to hide in a trunk. As the maid, Norah, has mistaken Nicolai's suit for Mike's and taken it to be cleaned, Nicolai borrows one of Mike's suits. Every time he tries to dress, however, someone comes in the room, forcing him to hide, and the maid eventually removes the clothes. Nicolai then tries to flee by the fire escape, but Lydia thinks he is a burglar so he runs back into Julie's bedroom. Larky then chases him, but Nicolai turns the tables, steals his clothes and locks him in a closet. Nicolai still has not dressed when Sonya arrives at the apartment with a detective who has been tracking Nicolai. As the detective insists that Nicolai is in the apartment, Lydia appears demanding the return of her husband. Julie is shocked when Larky is released from the closet, but once he explains how he got there, Nicolai is found in the trunk. Once again the angry spouses vow to move. Later that night, Mike and Julie make up and decide to move back to their old apartment.
Director
Tim Whelan
Cast
George Brent
Joan Bennett
Mischa Auer
Una Merkel
Glenda Farrell
Ernest Truex
Margaret Hamilton
Charles Coleman
Charles Arnt
Thurston Hall
Cecil Cunningham
George Carleton
Toto, A Dog
Crew
Rollie Asher
Edward Boyle
Don Cash
Kenneth Earl
Max H. Golden
René Hubert
Irene
Curtis Kenyon
Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Stanley Logan
Francis D. Lyon
Hal Mohr
E. Edwin Moran
Ramon
John Ducasse Schulze
Earl Sitar
Edward Small
Dimitri Tiomkin
Grant Whytock
Grant Whytock
T. K. Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
News items reveal the following information about the production: Director Ralph Murphy was to have been borrowed from Paramount for this film; Binnie Barnes and Dick Powell were to star; and Walter DeLeon and Stephen Morehouse Avery were to work on the script. DeLeon and Avery's contribution to the final film has not been determined. First National released two earlier American versions of Margaret Mayo and Salisbury Field's play, both titled Twin Beds: the 1920 release was directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starred Carter and Flora De Haven (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.4596); the 1929 release was directed by Alfred Santell and starred Jack Mulhall and Patsy Ruth Miller (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.5897). In 1934, Warner/First National released a British version of the play titled Life of the Party, directed by Ralph Dawson and starring Jerry Verno.
