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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

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.

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.

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.

I agree with the other positive reviews here, with one reservation. The film is a very funny, well written and performed screwball comedy. I especially enjoyed the sequence where Miland has to scramble between two adjoining apartments, a situation I've seen lots of times in comedy films; it's delightful here because of Miland's perfect performance and the spot on comic pacing. It's great fun seeing the cutsy-pie, air head performance of Gail Patrick; in her other "other woman" roles ("My Favorite Wife", etc.) she plays it stern and bland, here she's very funny and likable. OK, my one reservation--Loretta Young is miscast; she is off-putting in the first half of the film, seeming a total bitch. Later in the film, as her character softens she becomes a sympathetic character and right for the part. Hers is a role that seems to have been written for Roziland Russel or Jean Arthur; as I watched the film it was very easy to imagine those actresses fitting the part and the dialog to perfection. Occasionally Young seems to be handling her lines as Russel would, including her vocal inflections.