An Innocent Affair

The title card says "Don't Trust your Husband", but this one is listed on Turner Classics as "An Innocent Affair". Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll are husband and wife, and it's the usual misunderstandings and antics as Vincent (MacMurray) entertains a client, who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend. Wife Paula is sure that Vincent is having an affair, so she tries to make him jealous with schemes of her own. Send in Buddy Rogers. The music helps add to the comedic theme here...similar to cartoon music. Music director Hans Salter was nominated for SIX Oscars! This might not have been as good as it is without MacMurray carrying the weight. He had been in the biz for YEARS by this time. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, who had worked for the greats, does a fine job directing. Pretty Good. Nothing earth-shattering, but entertaining.

"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.

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.

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.