An Innocent Affair

From start to finish this little known throwback to the best mad-cap screwball comedies of the 1930s is guaranteed to tickle the most jaded funny bone. Vincent Doane, played by Fred MacMurray, is a successful advertising executive who has come under severe scrutiny by his wife of five years, Paula, played by the gorgeous Madeleine Carroll, for the simple reason that he has been keeping rather late nights trying to woo a rather wealthy client, a Mr. Fraser, into signing a lucrative contract. The problem is Paula has serious doubts about the veracity of her husband's story, thinking that Mr. Fraser is in reality, well, you guessed it. In order to cover up the real identity of his client--and it really is a client--Vincent goes to great lengths, entangling himself further and further into a hilarious web of lies and misadventures that, in the hands of a master comedian like Fred MacMurray, are simply unforgettable. The give-and-take between MacMurray and Carroll is in the best vein of their previous pairings, and despite the fact that this would be their fifth, and final film together, their marvelous on-screen chemistry shows no indication of flagging.

Screen legend Charles Buddy Rogers plays a somewhat befuddled tobacco tycoon who unwittingly gets caught up in Mrs. Doane's scheme to pay her husband back for his alleged infidelity, and in the process serves as a splendid foil to the frenetic shenanigans of the Doanes. Despite the fact that you just know how the film turns out, the fun, like in all classic screw-ball comedies, is in the getting there. When the dust has finally settled, this reviewer just couldn't help sighing that An Innocent Affair marked the end of one of filmdom's truly great comedic duos.

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.

"Don't Trust Your Husband" is a 1948 film starring Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, Rita Johnson, and Buddy Rogers.

Carroll and MacMurray play a couple, Vincent and Paula Doane, who have been married five years. He's in advertising and is never home due to having to work with one Mr. Fraser. One day he says he's playing golf with Mr. Fraser. However, he leaves without his golf clubs, which Paula throws out the window.

Paula concludes there's another woman. In truth, he is trying to land an account but must deal with his ex-fiancée and doesn't want to tell Paula. Her sister-in-law (Johnson) talks her into hiring an actor to flirt with her at the anniversary dinner she and Vincent are having. Vincent finds out about it from a friend, and looks forward to it.

However, Claude Kimball (Rogers), the President of a huge tobacco company enters the restaurant, and even though the talent agent has reserved the table next to Paula and Vincent, the restaurant owner insists that Kimball must be seated there instead as it's a better table than the one where he was to be seated.

This had great potential and was good for sure, but I would have loved to have seen it with a better director and a better cast. There is nothing wrong with MacMurray or Carroll, but in the hands of, say, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, just as a for-instance, it could have been a scream. Also it needed to be directed with a little more zip.

Enjoyable but on the ordinary side.

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.