This Man Is Mine

IRENE DUNNE may have had a blossoming film career that led to much better things in the '40s, but her early '30s films were potboilers and this sophisticated comedy among the idle rich is one of them.

It's a thin comedy about a catty woman who threatens the happiness of IRENE DUNNE and RALPH BELLAMY, coming between them to the point where Dunne is all ready to sue for divorce until the woman (CONSTANCE CUMMINGS) turns to SIDNEY BLACKMER for her marriage partner. The script is full of catty one-liners but none of it is worthy of Dunne's presence. She did much better with screwball comedy material that came later.

A serious waste of time with a weak first half-hour that only picks up steam when Constance Cummings enters the scene. Ralph Bellamy is a bore as a bumbling husband in one of his rare leading man roles.

Summing up: Only for serious Irene Dunne fans.

There are three terrific women's roles in this nifty little comedy/drama that stars Irene Dunne as a loving wife whose husband (Ralph Bellamy) gets involved with an old girlfriend (Constance Cummings). There's nothing new in the plot here, but the dialog is sharp, funny (catty), and fast paced. Dunne is super and gets to show off her comic and musical talents as well as her dramatic chops. Cummings is wonderful as the bitch girlfriend who uses men like Kleenex. Bellamy is solid in a rare starring role as the dumb-cluck husband. Kay Johnson (the star of early DeMille talkies) has a great role as the droll neighbor. Sidney Blackmer is terrific as a smarmy boyfriend Cummings is stringing along. Charles Starrett (usually seen in Westerns), Vivian Tobin, and Louis Mason are good in support. But what really lifts This Man Is Mine a cut above other women's pictures of the day is the stingingly funny dialog among the three female stars. It's a total joy to watch Dunne, Cummings, and Johnson snap and claw at each other in a vein similar to The Women and First Lady (an underrated Kay Francis comedy). I still think Irene Dunne may have been the most versatile actress of the 1930s, and gorgeous Constance Cummings should have been a much bigger star. This film is not to be missed!

The idle rich have little to occupy their time but playing cards and seducing each other's spouses. At least that is what the characters in "This Man is Mine" suggest. This short tired tale of marital infidelity, adapted from a play, retains its staginess and does not merit the presence of Irene Dunne in the central role. Despite her talent and beauty and voice, Dunne as Tony Dunlap fails to convince viewers that her character would try to save a worthless marriage to Jim Dunlap, played by Ralph Bellamy. Bellamy evidently has retained suppressed feelings for a former flame throughout his marriage to Dunne, with whom he has had a young son. When the former girlfriend arrives on the scene to rekindle her romance with Bellamy, the film's fragile grip on credibility crumbles. Although Constance Cummings as Francesca is an amusing conniving tart, the transparency of her character and motives makes Bellamy look like an utter idiot when he returns her advances. Viewers may be forgiven for shouting "you blithering fool" and throwing tomatoes at the screen when Bellamy falls for Cummings's tricks, especially when the other characters on screen easily see through her. Bellamy's character must have inherited wealth, because there was no way this gullible dimwit could make his way in the business world. As a father, he is ready to toss away his child for a shallow man hunter. He does not deserve Irene Dunne's attention, let alone her hand and devotion. By the final frame, "This Man is Mine" has descended into completely incredible nonsense. Only the performances of Dunne and Cummings and the handsome presence of future western star Charles Starrett offer any reason to see this annoying trifle.

Fast paced and pretty good dialogue throughout, plus runs about 1 hr 15 min.

The women are given the best lines -- sharp, funny, and often catty. Though their characters are quite minor to the story, I enjoyed the lines between husband and wife Slim and Rita, or "Cookie" and "Pookie" as they called each other. It was quite funny to hear them call each other by such cute little pet names, followed by a jab or barb or criticism! I don't think they said one nice thing to each other! The other supporting couples in the flick were always snapping at each other too -- Bea and Jud, and Fran and Mort.

The two main characters, Toni and Jim, are very much in love and exhibit some nice friendly banter at the beginning of the movie. This doesn't last for long as Jim's ex-fiancé, Fran, breezes into town, freshly divorced with a new dude already lined up (Mort) and setting her sights on winning Jim back ... not permanently, just for a night. Constance Cummings is great as Fran! Toni suffers through Jim's infidelity and even forgives him as she wants to save her marriage and her family (they have a 2-yr-old boy). Eventually, however, she decides she's had enough and files for divorce.

What's interesting (and one of the reasons I like to watch these older movies) is the glimpse we get into how things were done back in the day. Jim asks Toni where she filed for divorce, and is aghast to learn she filed in the state they live in. From what I can gather, she could've run off to Reno (as Fran did, and as so many women in films from the 1930s did, and get what amounts to a 'no fault' divorce). But, since Toni filed in the state they lived in (New York?) where there was only one grounds for divorce - infidelity - this required her to name a 'correspondent' (i.e., the outside party whom the spouse cheated with). Fran is quite upset to learn that Toni has filed in state and has named her as the correspondent. I really enjoy these little snippets into how life used to be long before I was born. It adds to the enjoyment of the movie somehow, a little history lesson along with my entertainment.

Anyways ... back to the movie. Fran doesn't want to be involved in a scandal and, in addition, has since learned that Mortie is stinking rich, so she ups and marries him, hoping this will dissuade Toni from divorcing Jim (and naming Fran as correspondent). Jim comes crawling back to Toni and the movie ends with them kissing (presumably Toni's going to take him back). I'd have liked to see Toni kick Jim to the curb, but alas it looks like she's going to take him back instead.

Toni was played wonderfully by Irene Dunn, and Jim was played by Ralph Bellamy. It was nice to see what the old coot from Trading Places looked like back when he was a young man.

Pretty good, not great, but I wasn't disappointed that I watched it either. This movie appears on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) every once in a while.

Based on a play, "This Man is Mine" is a 1934 film directed by John Cromwell and starring Irene Dunne, Ralph Bellamy, Constance Cummings, Kay Johnson, and Sidney Blackmer.

Dunne plays Tony Dunlap, who for 4-1/2 years has been married to Jim, and they have a little boy. They are very happy. Then they learn that femme fatale Fran Harper is back in town. Fran left Jim at the altar, so she's a sore subject. Tony makes no attempt to keep her husband and Fran separated, and Fran, a beautiful glamor girl, immediately makes a play for her ex-beau. Within five minutes, he's making out with her and ready to divorce his wife and leave his child. Pretty ridiculous. Tony agrees to give him a divorce in six months, if that's what he still wants. Of course she knows in six months he'll want no such thing, but for some reason she wants to keep him around.

It goes on from there. This is a weak play with two not very believable characters, the obvious Fran and Jim, although I suppose it could be argued that as obvious as Fran is, you couldn't expect a dummy like Jim to see it.

Dunne does a great job as a smart woman who's in love and takes the clever road. She could be applauded if she weren't married to someone who doesn't deserve her.

Cummings, a wonderful actress, looks gorgeous and plays her part to the flirtatious hilt. Though she never liked Hollywood and eventually returned to both the theater and her native England, she was always a pleasure to watch. In the late '70s, she did a play, Wings, on Broadway and on tour about a stroke victim and had great success. She worked until 1986, when she was about 80, and died when she was 90. A shame she didn't make more movies.

Despite poorly fleshed-out characters and an unrealistic scenario, "This Man is Mine" is enjoyable for Dunne and Cummings, and also Sidney Blackmer in a decent role, years before he played Roman Castavet in Rosemary's Baby.