How to Murder Your Wife

Infobox Film
name = How to Murder Your Wife


image_size = 200px
caption =
director = Richard Quine
producer = George Axelrod
Gordon Carroll (exec.)
writer = George Axelrod
narrator =
starring = Jack Lemmon
Virna Lisi
Terry-Thomas
Claire Trevor
music = Neal Hefti
cinematography = Harry Stradling
editing =
distributor =
released = September 20, 1965
runtime = 118 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 58212

"How to Murder Your Wife" is a 1965 comedy film starring Jack Lemmon and Virna Lisi. The film was directed by Richard Quine, who also directed Lemmon in "My Sister Eileen", "It Happened to Jane", "Operation Mad Ball" and "Bell, Book and Candle".

Plot summary

Jack Lemmon plays handsome bachelor Stanley Ford, a successful cartoonist who is happily unmarried and enjoying all the creature comforts one could desire, including a wonderful valet, Charles Firbank (Terry-Thomas), who takes care of all his material needs. Stanley lives a carefree life as a single man, attending wild parties and chasing attractive young women etc. However, fate soon intervenes: whilst attending a friend's bachelor party, Stanley becomes very drunk. When the would-be groom calls off his wedding, Stanley drunkenly proposes to a beautiful blonde Italian girl dressed in a swim-suit, who has just stepped out of a large cake. An equally drunken judge (Sidney Blackmer) at the party overhears Stanley's marriage proposal and obligingly performs an impromptu (but legally binding) wedding ceremony. Next morning, Stanley wakes up with a hangover. Lying in bed next to him is the beautiful woman (Lisi) who stepped out of the cake at the party. At first he remembers nothing of the previous night's events. Then, the awful truth begins to dawn on him. To make matters worse, his new wife speaks no English, which makes communicating with her something of a challenge. He tries to get the marriage annulled, but his lawyer informs him that this is impossible.

Marriage takes Stanley's life and turns it completely upside down. His new wife quickly begins to make certain changes to his lifestyle which causes friction with Stanley's valet. Stanley even changes the cartoon he writes ("Bash Brannigan") and shifts it from a secret agent to a household comedy. After becoming increasingly irritated by the various changes that marriage has made to his life, Stanley vents his frustrations by concocting a plot, in his daily comic strip at least, to kill his wife and dispose of the body "in the goop from the gloppitta-gloppitta machine".

Stanley's wife sees the cartoon on his work-desk, takes offense and leaves without a trace. Questions are asked, and after reading the offending cartoon the police put two and two together and make five. Ford is quickly arrested and accused of murdering his wife and disposing of the body. His cartoons are used as prosecution evidence at the subsequent trial. After his attorney does a thoroughly incompetent job of defending him, Stanley fires him and defends himself. He ends up telling the jury that he did indeed murder his wife, and that they should acquit him on the grounds of justifiable homicide. The all-male jury is sympathetic because they themselves are frustrated at the way their respective wives have taken all the fun out of their lives. In a gesture of protest and defiance, the jury deliberately finds Stanley not guilty and he is acquitted, released and carried shoulder high out of the court room, whilst all the women look on in stony silence.

The movie has a happy ending of sorts when Stanley's wife returns and they are reconciled. Stanley has gradually realised that he really does love his wife, and that life is far sweeter with her than without her. His disapproving butler Charles is introduced to her very attractive mother who, like Charles, has a space between her teeth. The underlying message is that love will conquer all.

The comic strip

The comic strip art in the film was credited to Mel Keefer. Alex Toth did a teaser comic that ran in the "Hollywood Reporter" and several newspapers for ten days as advertising for the film.

Cast

*Jack Lemmon "as" Stanley Ford
*Virna Lisi "as" Mrs. Ford
*Terry-Thomas "as" Charles Firbank
*Eddie Mayehoff "as" Harold Lampson, Stanley's envious lawyer
*Claire Trevor "as" Edna Lampson, Harold's shrewish wife
*Mary Wickes "as" Harold's secretary
*Jack Albertson "as" Dr. Bentley

Trivia

*Virna Lisi admitted that she had a big crush on Jack Lemmon and that she found it very easy to kiss and cuddle him in the film. These scenes happen a lot in the film as Lisi's character seems to be obsessed with her screen husband, played by Lemmon.

Awards

*Jack Lemmon won the Golden Laurel for Male Comedy Performance at the Laurel Awards.
*Claire Trevor was nominated for Golden Laurel for Female Supporting Performance.
*Jack Lemmon was also nominated for BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actor.

Cultural references

*The film is referenced in Fawlty Towers in the episode "The Wedding Party".
*The "Gloppitta-Gloppitta Machine" (a cement-mixer outside the building in which Stanley Ford lives; it was thought to be the place where Ford "dumped" his wife's—non-existent—body) is often used by road work or DPW crews as a for a cement-mixer, asphalt-mixer or anything of the like.
*The subsequent cartoon character Zapp Brannigan acknowledges its source by its name if not otherwise.

External links

*imdb title | id=0058212 | title=How to Murder Your Wife