Le docteur se marie

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.

In a role that was obviously first intended for Cary Grant, Ray Milland through an innocent series of misunderstanding finds everyone with the mistaken impression that he's married to Loretta Young. That would be all right, but the unmarried Young has just written a best selling book that has become a feminist manifesto in its day about how unattached women need not feel inferior. At least one of her readers feels she's a traitor to the breed.

Milland is a doctor, but not of the practicing kind, he's an instructor at a college with hopes of a professorship which is granted to him when the folks in charge of his college think he's now married. He had intended to marry Gail Patrick once again in her typecast part as the other woman. She doesn't like it at all.

On the other hand Reginald Gardiner as Young's publicist is perfectly willing to go with the flow. He's got plans in the wind for a book on the joys of being a newlywed if Young will keep up the charade.

So how will two people who really can't stand each other keep this up? That is the crux of the plot of The Doctor Takes A Wife.

Milland has a drunk scene which he does well and might have led to his casting in The Lost Weekend. He certainly fills Cary Grant's shoes quite nicely in the film. Young also does well as does the rest of the cast.

I also have to single out Frank Sully and Gordon Jones as a pair of amiable lunkhead football players who Milland passes to keep their eligibility. They look to return the favor and see how they do it.

The Doctor Takes A Wife is not a top drawer screwball comedy, but it certainly will amuse.

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

Loretta Young (Kismet, zillions of romantic stories on love & marriage) is successful author June Cameron, who gets tangled up with Dr. Sterling (Ray Milland - Lost Weekend, the Major and the Minor). He agrees to help her out of a jam, but of course, their "resolution" causes problems in his own life, and later, problems in her life. Supporting roles by Reginald Gardiner and also Gail Patrick. Many similarities here to the 1945 film "Christmas in Connecticut" with Barbara Stanwyck, but they credit different authors. Also similar to "Third Finger Left Hand".. (Lionel Houser wrote Christmas in CT.. and Third Finger..) Loretta Young always reminds me of Ann Marie from the TV show "That Girl" -- thru a series of misunderstandings she herself has caused, she drags everyone around her into this huge ball of confusion, and has to straighten everything out at the last minute. Silly but fun. This flick could have been an episode of "Three's Company".

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.