Don't Tell the Wife

When Winthorp gets out of jail, he meets up with the gang (Big Boy Williams and William Demarest) and quickly starts planning his next caper, selling shares in a phony mine. Lynne Overman is Steven, who might also be interested, but his loud bossy wife (Una Merkel) runs the roost. and Lucy is the secretary of the phony mine company. not much of a part, really. it's all okay. kind of choppy, as they try to stay one step ahead of the law. William Demarest was always Great, and Una Merkel steals the show. Not bad, but not anyone's best work. Directed by Christy Cabanne, who had started out with D.W. Griffith, but never achieved that kind of greatness. fun to finally see this one, since they hardly ever show it. early Lucy.

Any flick with Guy Kibbee or Thurston Hall or Guinn 'Big-Boy' Williams has got to have entertainment value. The chemistry works with "Don't Tell The Wife". A con-man tries to get out of the rackets and settle down with his wife, but the pull of the old game is too strong for him to resist. He's got to make another score for security and for old time's sake. The wife doesn't buy in quickly. Kibbee helps to convince her via his bumbling character in this flick (which probably would have been better handled by a Cecil Calloway or Frank Morgan). In times prior to this, the chiselers had sold phony stock to phony mines. This time there is a real mine, but what happens comes as quite a surprise to all concerned. Completely out of touch with reality, and only suggestive of madcap without going overboard, this one is actually kinda entertaining.

Don't Tell the Wife (1937)

** (out of 4)

An all-star cast of character actors are wasted in this rather flat comedy. A con man gets released from prison and decides to head back into the stock fraud racket but his ex-partner is now married and his wife (Una Merkel) refuses to let him "invest" any money unless they can show proof that this new business deal is legit. They hire a dimwitted magazine writer (Guy Kibbee) to pretend to be a wizard at stocks but he ends up causing more trouble than anything. DON'T TELL THE WIFE has a decent idea but sadly it never comes together due in large part to some poor pacing from director Christy Cabanne but also a very weak screenplay that frankly just doesn't contain anything funny. It's a real shame that the screenplay is so disappointing because we're treated to a very good cast. Kibbee really can't add too much to the film as he's playing the same type of dimwitted character that he had countless times by this point in his career. The actor is always charming to watch but his character is really letdown by the script. Merkel is also wasted in her supporting role as is Lynne Overman as her husband and Thurston Hall as the con man. Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams plays his typical dumb thug and we also get Lucille Ball in a small part as well as Hattie McDaniel in a brief bit and we also have Wilfred Lucas in a very brief bit. DON'T TELL THE WIFE remains mildly entertaining thanks to the wonderful cast but there's just no getting around the fact that for a comedy there just aren't any laughs.

Thurston Hall gets out of prison and back to selling gold mines in a boiler room. He's got a new wrinkle to avoid going to prison: he's got a mine. Is there gold in it, asks one of his crew? He has no idea.

They tap Lynne Overman for the start-up capital, but his wife, Una Merkel, wants to know who's backing the operation. One of the Wall Street Winthrops, he claims; so they track down clownish Guy Kibbee, whose name happens to be Winthrop, to serve as the nominal head of the firm.

There's a fine selection of comics in this movie directed by Christy Cabanne, including 'Big Boy' Williams, William Demarest, Lucille Ball, and Si Jenks. Cabanne has the reputation of being one of the worst directors ever to grind film, but given a decent budget, he proved that false, and here's the proof. It's very funny.

A fun Nat Perrin script gives some big laughs to Si Jenks. A gold mine of experienced talent is found under Cabanne's direction. Wonderful to see Una in the uno role. Guy Kibbee carries the action and stars in this. Mix together co-conspirators Thurston Hall, Lynne Overman, Big Boy Williams, William Demarest and numerous others in a convention of characters sucked into the caper. You get a unique chemistry of clever dialogue. Not dated, this is immersed in a modern culture of fraudulent phone sales which has only grown since 1937. This turns into a Western for a few minutes and ends with marital bliss. Lucille Ball and Hattie McDaniel are also involved. If you ever rooted for Una to get a lead role where she defers to no one, this is for you.