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You Can't Fool Your Wife

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You Can't Fool Your Wife
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRay McCarey
Screenplay byJerome Cady
Based onThe Romantic Mr. Hinklin
by Richard Carroll
Ray McCarey
Produced byCliff Reid
StarringLucille Ball
James Ellison
Robert Coote
Virginia Vale
Emma Dunn
Elaine Shepard
CinematographyJ. Roy Hunt
Edited byTheron Warth
Music byRoy Webb
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Pictures
Release date
  • May 21, 1940 (1940-05-21)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

You Can't Fool Your Wife is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Ray McCarey and written by Jerome Cady. The film stars Lucille Ball, James Ellison, Robert Coote, Virginia Vale, Emma Dunn and Elaine Shepard. The film was released on May 21, 1940, by RKO Pictures.[1][2][3]

Plot

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Young married couple Andrew Hinklin and Clara Hinklin née Fields, were college sweethearts, but they have started to feel that their lives are unexciting and unmotivated. Their marriage is not helped by Clara's opinionated mother living with them in their small one-bedroom apartment. Clara wishes that their life would be a little more exciting as Andrew said on their honeymoon that their married life would be. Her wish takes an unexpected turn when Andrew, at work, is assigned to show the visiting Mr. Battingcourt Jr. - the younger half of the head of their London office and who is the majority shareholder of their accounting firm - a good time while he's in the US. "Batty" as he is affectionately called by his friends is a party animal, and Andrew, who Batty rechristens "Hinky", feels he has to party along all in the name of job security.

Clara feels that she is losing her stable husband Andrew to Hinky the party animal. Due to a misunderstanding with some "figures" at the office, they become separated. Clara's mother does her best to make sure the couple isn't able to talk with each other. Feeling he is partly to blame for the Hinklins' marital problems, Batty advises Clara that she can make herself more exciting to Hinky by changing her demeanor and appearance, more like Mercedes Vasquez, a beautiful and exciting woman. Clara agrees to Batty's plan to come to one of their parties masquerading as exotic Latina Dolores Alvaradez, to woo Hinky and thus ultimately show him that she can be exotic like he probably now wants. Complications ensue when others find out about Batty's scheme and when Mercedes Vasquez, who looks extremely alike to Clara, also attends that party leading to a few mistaken identities.

Cast

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Production

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John Farrow briefly took over direction during the shoot when director McCarey fell ill.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Movie Review - You Can t Fool Your Wife - THE SCREEN; Anna Neagle Plays the Musical 'Irene,' at the Music Hall--Light Comedy at the Palace - NYTimes.com". Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  3. ^ "You Can't Fool Your Wife Trailer, Reviews and Schedule for You Can't Fool Your Wife - TVGuide.com". TV Guide. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  4. ^ SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD New York Times 8 Feb 1940: 25.
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