You Can't Fool Your Wife

Fans that have only seen Lucy in screwball comedy roles may be surprised that she was a very fine actress and can handle drama with great pathos. This film sort of tries to be a screwball comedy, popular in that era, but fails due to a choppy pacing, erratic editing and direction. It's occasionally feeble script doesn't help yet this is still an entertaining film for fans of Lucille Ball. Watch this film and you'll root for Lucy, wishing she had a better film success as you see her real talent in one of her first leading roles.

Andrew Hinklin (James Ellison) and Clara Fields (Lucille Ball) graduate from college in 1935 and get married. Neither are social people and she's concerned about their stale marriage. It doesn't help that they're living with her bitter mother. He's a meek straight-laced accountant forced by his superiors to take out wild boss' son Battincourt from the London office. Clara is not happy with drunken Andrew. Battincourt has his own idea of helping.

This is an old comedy which isn't that funny. Humor is a fickle master and it doesn't always age well. The most fascinating aspect is a young Lucille Ball. She's in her late twenties here. This is one of her numerous B-movies before finally climbing to the top. Clara is a bit of a wet blanket but she gets to grow and Ball also gets to play doppelganger Mercedes Vasquez. I just can't get over how young she looks. She is so different here that it's hard to say that her future is inevitable. All I can say is that she has a compelling presence and a good range.

Lighthearted and engaging. Special notice to actress Emma Dunn who plays Mother Fields, funny and gifted. Highly recommended!!! A chance to see a movie that is from the golden age of films. Lucille Ball plays 2 characters towards the end and is highly engaging.

Half the problems in the marriage of James Ellison and Lucille Ball are due to the fact there's the mother-in-law from hell living with them in the person of Emma Dunn. I could identify with that, my parents had one of the grandmas living at home and it wasn't pleasant for the odd one out.

Taken partly from The Guardsman and partly from The Awful Truth, You Can't Fool Your Wife is an amusing domestic comedy showing some of the talents of Lucille Ball in that direction. She plays a dual role here, Jimmy Ellison's who fears the marriage has gone stale after a year and a South American bombshell. No need for a voice coach to get the accent right, she had the best teacher in the world in that newlywed husband she had at home.

Also in the cast is Robert Coote playing a droll English visitor who runs the London office at Ellison's business. The man likes to party hearty and wants a companion to share the romping with. He really unknowingly starts all the marital discord.

The last 15 minutes with the two Lucys at a masquerade party has a lot of good laughs in it.

You Can't Fool Your Wife holds up pretty well after almost 80 years.

This RKO second feature stars Lucille Ball and James Ellison, starts out amusingly -- particularly the scene where Ellison is hung over and the toaster is very noisy -- but ends in very predictable fashion. The leads can't hold this fluff together: Ball is unconvincing and Ellison is too montonous. Robert Coote, in support, is excellent.