Der Pantoffelheld

This weak B-comedy is burdened with a talky script and overwrought acting. Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll scream and snap at each other. Charles "Buddy" Rogers has a subsidiary role and does what he can with it. During one scene MacMurray pretends to be fast asleep, even when his wife screams "YIPPEEE!" in his ear. She then drops her large hat on his head. He keeps snoring loudly. Hilarious. Fred spends until 6 AM with his ex-fiancée who is now a prospective client for his advertising agency. All innocent fun, of course. These are the kind of contrivances I cannot endure in screwball comedies. 2 AM is believable; but to be out all night and lie to his wife stretches credulity. This is one of those scripts that would all fall apart if one person tells the other person the truth.

Louise Allbritton and Rita Johnson do what they can with thankless parts. This would-be screwball comedy is lacking in laughs.

In addition, the score is hokey, especially when there is no dialogue.

The title on the DVD I purchased of "An Innocent Affair" is different – "Don't Trust Your Husband." It's a good comedy about that subject – trust, in marriage. We have all seen various renditions of comedies on the subject. Cary Grant, has played in three or four different films himself. In this one, Fred MacMurray teams up with Madeleine Carroll as Vincent and Paula Doane. The story is a good one, with both stars on the end of jealousy and mistrust. They are both still deeply in love with one another after five years of marriage. But, Vince's job as an advertising executive sometimes takes him away from home at night. The problem starts when he tells a lie to cover up the real client he has been trying to sign for two weeks. He lies because he doesn't think Paula will trust or believe him because of whom that client is. It's all downhill from there, until the very end. But naturally, that's where we get most of the comedy.

It is a good film, but not much better than that. Several things seem askew, beginning with the script. It seems a little flat – not much life in it. The same can be said for the direction. And, while both the leads do well in their roles, there just isn't any chemistry between them. I think Carroll, as a rule, is a bit more reserved than most of the main line comedy actresses (Carol Lombard, Irene Dunne, Claudette Colbert, Ginger Rogers, Myrna Loy, etc.). She did well, and there seemed to be some chemistry with MacMurray in "Honeymoon in Bali." I haven't seen their other two comedy pairings ("Café Society" of 1939 and "One Night in Lisbon," 1941). Carroll was quite good with Dick Powell in "On the Avenue," but the few other comedies she made didn't fare very well. She is a much better actress in her more frequent roles in adventure films and dramas.

Two other performances in this movie helped lift it up to the six stars I give it. Rita Johnson is very good as Eve Lawrence – Vince's sister and Paula's good friend. And, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers is excellent as Claude Kimball, the tobacco king. He plays the southern gentleman perfectly with the shock and befuddled acceptance of what he sees as the most unusual marital arrangement between Vince and Paula. How he comes to that conclusion is all part of the humor of the film. This is a good comedy, and one with a more direct message than most about the relationship between honesty and trust. I could picture Cary Grant and Carol Lombard in the roles, or Irene Dunne with MacMurray. They would have raised the laughter bar a few notches.

An Innocent Affair is one of those films that would not exist if the characters would only communicate. In this case it's husband and wife Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll who start playing games to catch each other in a lie and when you do that you are inevitably successful.

This was the fourth of four films that MacMurray and Carroll did together, the first three were when both were contract players at Paramount. This film was an independent production released by United Artists.

MacMurray who is worried about his wife's jealousy is spending late nights negotiating with the widow of a tycoon to land his account for MacMurray's advertising firm. The widow is Louise Allbritton who at one time was engaged to MacMurray so he's concerned about Carroll's reaction. Truth be told Allbritton does have more than business on her mind.

So when Carroll hires some actor to flirt with her at a nightclub to make Fred jealous and mistakes southern cigarette tycoon Buddy Rogers for the hired actor all kinds of complications develop, the kind you would have found in screwball comedies before World War II.

Alan Mowbray also has a very droll performance as a man MacMurray hires to play Allbritton's husband. He just can't quite summon up the enthusiasm for the part and I'll leave it go at that.

An Innocent Affair has some good moments and it's in the hands of a pair of stars who've honed these parts to perfection.

Vincent Doane (Fred MacMurray) is hiding something from his wife. Although completely innocent, he's been taking an ex-fiancee out to dinner in order to land a big account for his advertising agency. He is faithful and loves his wife but foolishly he doesn't trust her to believe him. When she thinks he's fooling around or lying, she decides to hire an actor to pretend to woo her in order to make Vincent jealous. The problem is that the man who is now making eyes at her is NOT the actor she played but a rich millionaire! How's this all going to work out? See the film and find out for yourself.

The story is familiar in that later the pair keep digging deeper and deeper holes until they're headed for divorce. This aspect of the film isn't fun...though the parts leading up to it are. Overall, worth seeing and enjoyable...though a tad overlong.

Vincent (Fred MacMurray) and Paula (Madeleine Carroll) are celebrating 5 years of marriage. Unfortunately, Vincent never seems to be around as he has to spend all his time with a client in order to gain a contract. Paula suspects that he is seeing another woman and so hires an escort to make her husband jealous. Things don't go to plan and the film follows a series of misunderstandings before everyone is re-united for a game of happy families.

The story starts well and there are genuine funny moments, eg, Vincent watching the cost of the bill as Claude (Charles Rogers) just keeps piling on the orders of champagne and expensive food. The films ticks by and is generally OK.

The cast do well. Fred MacMurray is funny as he registers deliberate disinterest in his wife's behaviour, Charles Rogers plays a slightly simple millionaire, and Alan Mowbray is funny as a hired escort who only has his eyes set on eating a meal. The story gets to where we expect it to but it slows down in pace after an amusing start.