"Hired Wife" is a very funny 1940 comedy romance with a sterling cast. But, with this cast and the plot, it should and could have been a great comedy. The front and back parts have some hilarious dialog. The problem with the middle section is too much time devoted to Stephen wining and dining Phyllis Walden, with very little humor. That could have been greatly condensed and then have a couple of instances toward the beginning with Kendal helping get Stephen out of some gold-digger relationships. One can just imagine the humorous dialog there could be here with Kendal. But for that slow middle section, this could have been among the very best comedy films.
Rosalind Russell is Kendal, the private secretary and behind-the-scenes manager who keeps the Dexter Cement company afloat. Her bachelor boss isn't inept, but isn't very good at handling things when he lapses into one of his overboard infatuations. Kendal bides her time until the day she hopes he'll open his eyes and fall for her. Brian Aherne's Stephen Dexter isn't a wolf or playboy, but a guy who romanticizes about romance. He's looking for the right girl, and every so often he falls for some damsel, who turns out to be a gold-digger. So, Kendal gets him out of the jam. That's the setting when this film opens, and the boss has just returned from a trip.
Robert Benchley is Roger Van Horn, the Dexter Company attorney. And John Carroll is José de Briganza, a long-time acquaintance of Kendal's. They contribute a lot of the humor. Since Kendal mostly runs the business, when Stephen flips over his latest heart-throb, she hires José to run interference - in the form of luring Phyllis away from Stephen. Benchley is a hoot as Van Horn. One of scenes that had me laughing so hard had the three leads together when Roger sends Kendal to go packing her bags. Stephen asks where she's going, and she says to his house. Stephen says, "My house, my house?" And Roger comes back with a reply about "Your house, house" and more. Because Benchley was a humorist, including writing for magazines and newspapers columns, I wondered if this wasn't an ad lib on his part in the film, and it was so funny that Universal kept it in.
Aherne and Russell were in three other comedies together. While they were all very good, they weren't among the best of the comedies for either one. Two of Brian Aherne's films are among the best comedies of all time, and seven of Roz Russell's comedies area among the best of all time.
Here are some favorite lines from this film.
Stephen Dexter, "Mac. I want a new campaign. And it must be warm, and it must be human." Kendal Browning, "The cement you love to touch." Stephen, "Yes, uh, the cem... you love... no, no, no. I mean we must make our cement stand out - give it personality."
Kendal Browning, "I'll tell you what you could do - you could perfume it."
Kendal Browning, "I think you've got something there - Little Annie Cement, that'd be kinda cute."
Stephen Dexter, looking at the billboard on the building opposite his office window, "Kendal, uh, who is that girl?" Kendal Browning, "Well, I don't know her name, but her face in on the canned tomatoes I use."
Stephen Dexter, "Get ahold of her. I'll see her myself." Kendall Browning, going out the door, "Wouldn't it be easier and quicker to pay her off right now?"
Kendal Browning, "If you're sure this is the real thing, my blessings, Stephen. I won't try and stop you. I'm through." Stephen Dexter, "What? Y, yo, you're not going to leave me with all this work...."
Kendal Browning, "I'm not through working for you. I'm just through caring what you do outside office hours." Stephen Dexter, "Mmm, well that's better." Kendal, "For me, not for you."
Roger van Horn, "All you've got to do is marry someone. It doesn't make any difference who she is or what she is. Of course, it would be better if she was a girl you could trust. But all she's really got to do is say, 'I do.'" They both look at Kendal. Stephen Dexter, "Kendall, whatta you say?" Kendal Browning, "I do."
Kendall Browning, "I wish I could afford to strangle you."
Roger Van Horn, "Well, Kendal, you better go home and start parking." Stephen Dexter, "You going away?" Kendall Browning, "Oh, heh, your attorney advised me to move." Stephen, "Move? Where?" Kendal, "Your house." Stephen, "My house? My house!" Roger, "Naturally your house, your house. Would Kendal move into my house, my house?" Stephen, "She's capable of anything."
Stephen Dexter, "What are you doing to me now?" Kendal Browning, "Not to you - for you."
Kendal Browning, "What's this item, one cockatoo?" José de Briganza, waving one hand behind his head, "You know, cockatoo?" Kendal, "Yeah, I know what they are, but what I wanna know is how do you use them in making love?" Jose, "Phyllis want one for the pet, so I give her the bird." Kendal, "Oh, that's all right by me. But, uh, José, $75 for one bird." Joseé, "It talks." Kendal, "For that amount of money it ought a read, write and vote."
Roger Van Horn, after Kendal makes a racket to wake him up, "Hey, cut that out. I'm asleep." Kendal Browning, to Stephen, "Ask grandma - he was in the house all night." Roger, "Oh, go to bed."
Stephen Dexter, "Roger, get me a divorce." Roger Van Horn, "You mind waiting until morning?" Stephen, "How soon can I get one?" Roger, "Well, is Kendal willing?" Kendal Browning, "Uh, no." Roger, "Well, if she fights..." Kendal, "She will." Roger, "Then it'll take years." Stephen, "Years?" Roger, "Five years. You're best chance is to disappear and be given up for dead. Course, it's just a curbstone opinion."
