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Loretta Young (June) has just written a best-selling book about how spinsters can enjoy life without men. She is stuck out of town and needs to get back to her agent and boyfriend Reginald Gardiner (John) to start work on her second novel. Cue Lecturer Ray Milland (Dr Stirling). He has a fiancée Gail Patrick (Marilyn) who he intends to marry once he gets a professorship at his college. He is in the same out of town area and he ends up giving Young a lift back into New York. By some misunderstanding, a "Just Married" sign is attached to his car, and everyone assumes the couple have just got married. Uh-oh, this is bad for Young's career and for Milland's. But, actually, the situation could benefit them both. Watch to find out how…

This film is OK while you watch it but nothing outstanding. I thought Loretta Young was the best character despite being a bit of a horror at the beginning. And I've never been a fan of that wisecracking, screwball comedy quick patter where everyone talks over each other. SHUT UP! This film, annoyingly, has some tedious sections with this contrived device, especially at the beginning. However, once we get away from these, the dialogue is actually quite funny in parts, eg, Loretta's quip to Milland in the car when one of his model heads falls onto the car floor - "Trunk murderer? She asks him directly. Another amusing scene occurs where one of the meat-head College boys is asked a test question and asks for Milland's number and if it's OK to phone him later with the answer.

One last point - how come they cast all the spinsters to look the same? There is a definite spinster look to the women at the start of this film. What the best-selling book really should have told them to do was to get dressed up and go sit in a bar. They should then get sorted with a shag and everyone's happy. The world can be a very simple place if we just take the right attitude.

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.

Loretta Young and Ray Milland star in "The Doctor Takes a Wife," a 1940 comedy that also features Edmund Gwenn, Gail Patrick, and Reginald Gardner. Young plays June Cameron, a 1940 version of a feminist who writes on the joys of being a bachelorette. When her editor/boyfriend (Reginald Gardner) summons her back to New York from her vacation, she hitches a ride with Dr. Timothy Sterling (Milland). Through a series of unfortunate events, the press reports that they're married, which will ruin June's current the status of her current best seller, Spinsters Aren't Spinach. Her publisher wants to keep the mistake going because June can now write about being married; and Dr. Sterling's newly married status wins him a big promotion. The fly in the ointment is Sterling's fiancée (Gail Patrick).

Completely predictable, of course, and dated, but still fun because of the terrific cast and good direction by Alexander Hall. Both the stars are very good. Young is beautiful in her tailored suits and gives her material the needed light touch. Milland always had a flair for comedy and does a good job as the stubborn doctor. Amusing, and a look back at the old days when this kind of film was popular.

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

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.