The Doctor Takes a Wife

Ray Milland plays a doctor who meets Young at a little vacation lodge one afternoon. Young is trying to get back to her home in the city, but unfortunately is forced to ride with Milland after learning that the lodge's only train has already left for the night. Milland and Young immediately hit it off (I'm kidding, they hate each other's guts) and only descend deeper into dissension after Milland unknowingly insults the books Young writes. Any guesses as to what kind of books Young writes? If you said "I don't know, anything to do with anti-marriage/female empowerment," ding ding ding! We have a winner (not that there's anything wrong with female empowerment, mind you).

Young and Miland make a brief stop while a wedding is going on. Unfortunately, a little boy, on a mission from God mistakes the wedding vehicle and puts a "Just Married" banner on the back of Milland's car, unbeknownst to either Young or Milland. The press ends up following the two back to Young's apartment and put 2 and 2 together. Unfortunately, they put 2 and 2 together and ended up with 5. Assuming that this prominent anti-marriage authoress has gotten married, they then proceed to print the news all over town, not realizing that this is a case of jumping to conclusions, or "ignorant slander," if you will.

Young's boyfriend Johnny has the idea that the 2 should pretend like they actually ARE married in order to help Young's upcoming book sell very well (the upcoming book has to do with the joys of marriage, etc). Boy, didn't see this coming (wink, wink). After some strong protest from Milland, Young finally gets her way and the two proceed to live together somewhat peacefully until Milland's girlfriend Marilyn (Gail Patrick) shows up and begins to wreak havoc (Gail surprised me in this, she doesn't play her borderline venomous, straight-shooter kind of role in this; she's more of a young Ann Miller-type?)

All in all, things get all wrapped up with a nice red bow at the ending, which I wasn't really expecting (wink, wink). I'd give this one a 7/10, as I've seen funnier (case in point, Bringing up Baby, Merrily We Live with Constance Bennett, or My Man Godfrey with Powell/Lombard). But Loretta Young is quite funny in this.

The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940) is not a movie to watch when you're on the downside (or any side) of a migraine. The "meet cute" in this Ray Milland and Loretta Young farce doesn't go easy on the ears in the first few scenes. I had to turn it off and try again later. I'm so glad I did because I discovered a real gem.

Yes, you could insert Cary Grant and Irene Dunne and this movie would probably still be known today. But that was not to be and doesn't really matter once these two stop screaming at each other. When they do, they play quite well together and have great chemistry.

Milland is extremely dashing and handsome. He's also very expressive and his comic timing and minor slapstick ability really shine. Interestingly, he's a doctor doing research on migraines and the medical jargon used is accurate. Loretta Young is always lovely, yet even she allows herself to get a little harried for the sake of the role. She's the feminist that finds herself in a pickle of a marriage ruse and is encouraged by her publisher to play along.

Edmund Gwenn leads a terrific supporting cast and, as Milland's father, plays matchmaker as he often does. There are a few scenes that were so funny that I went straight for the rewind button. The two goofy football players set up one of the greatest. Of course, there's the fiancé, deadlines, meetings, pride, and all of the typical ploys to throw a wrench in a possible relationship. This is a romcom and a great one at that, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions. Suffice it to say that it has an ending I really adored and then went straight for the rewind button yet again.

Doctor Takes a Wife, The (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Minor but entertaining screwball-comedy about a feminist writer (Loretta Young) and a doctor (Ray Milland) who meet while on vacation but hate each other from the start. After a mix up the media makes a mistake an announces that they were married so the two must pretend to be so that they can keep their careers. There's nothing overly special about this film but it does contain enough laughs to make it entertaining. It was nice seeing Young play a feminist as she's constantly shouting and holding her head up high while at the same time playing the sweet and loving wife as a joke. Her sweetness mixes perfectly well with Milland's dry humor and he really shines with his comic timing. The only really weak segment of the film comes when Milland is rushing between two apartments while trying to keep his girlfriend from finding out Young is in the other apartment. Reginald Gardiner and Gail Patrick add nice support as the editor and Milland's other girl. Edward Van Sloan has a small, thankless role as well.

Unlike some other reviewers who found Loretta Young (as June Cameron) off-putting in the first part of the film, I liked her. It was rather Ray Milland (Dr Timothy Sperling) who came across as a misogynist blockhead. I don't know what attitudes were common in the USA c. 1940, but my guess is that Sperling's crass biologist views about gender roles were pretty marginal even back then. Still, director Alexander Hall evidently intended viewers to agree with the doctor rather than with the successful female author; after all, it is her who changes in the course of the film while Sperling stays the same.

In any case, once you put modern sensibilities aside and suspend disbelief long enough to accept the extremely unlikely setup of the storyline, this is a very good screwball comedy with witty dialogue and some absurdly comical situations. Both Young and Milland have great comic timing. So does Gail Patrick, to my surprise. I have seen here in other comedies (My Man Godfrey, Mad About Music), and while in each case she played quite different types of female roles (cold temptress, anxious mother) she was never really funny. Here she is, and that's great to see. In sum, The Doctor Takes a Wife is an enjoyable comedy that is well-worth watching.

While not being crazy about the title, and the story didn't sound overly special being not an awful lot different from other comedies at the time there were still enough interest points to make me want to see 'The Doctor Takes a Wife'. Loretta Young was always very well suited to this type of film, Edmund Gwenn was always watchable and it was interesting to see Ray Milland in a comedic role, being more familiar with him in drama (i.e. 'The Lost Weekend', 'Dial M for Murder').

Fortunately, 'The Doctor Takes a Wife' turned out to be very enjoyable. Nothing original or exceptional, but good fun all the same once you get past a beginning that makes one conflicted whether to switch off or not. Young shows why this type of role suited well and Milland works remarkably well in comedy. Despite things that could have been done better, 'My Doctor Takes a Wife' has a lot to recommend and generally doesn't deserve to be as overlooked as it has been.

To me, and a few others it seems, 'The Doctor Takes a Wife' doesn't start off particularly promisingly. Found it too busy and noisy, at times too in need of a tightening. And Young's character is not likeable at all and is quite irritating actually to begin with, while she does become much more tolerable as the film progresses it takes time to get there.

Not unexpectedly, the story is very silly and some situations are unlikely and a bit overdone.

However, there is so much to like about 'The Doctor Takes a Wife'. A big selling point being the cast. Milland shows a surprising deftness for comedy, with wonderfully varied and amusing expressions that never came over as forced or artificial. Young is very charming and with sparkling comic timing as her character becomes easier to root for, and does her best when the character was problematic. Gwenn is always endearing, while Gail Patrick is cute and amusing and Reginald Gardiner is very funny without going over the top or mugging. Despite having different acting styles, Milland and Young have great chemistry together.

Alexander Hall directs with a sure, adept hand, showing ease and engagement with the material once getting past the first portion of the film. A lot of the dialogue is both acidly witty and at times surprisingly sophisticated and the slapstick didn't feel over-engineered or repetitive. The pace generally is lively and the production values are slick and elegant.

Summarising, good fun if nothing outstanding. 7/10