Great On Screen Couples: Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

You know Cary Grant is my favorite actor of all time and he has paired with some of the most legendary actresses of all time. And they all usually have great chemistry with the debonair chap. But for me, his best on screen partner has to be Irene Dunne. They made three films together, 2 screwball comedies and 1 drama. The first film they made together was 1937's wonderfully wicked comedy, The Awful Truth which cast the twosome as a married couple going through a divorce. This is one of the earliest of the screwball comedies and while it  may be rough around the edges in some scenes, it's one of the funniest films I have ever seen. And Grant and Dunne are perfect together in their first outing. Their constant plans to sabotage each other's chances at remarriage will have you gasping and laughing the whole time. And check out Irene's wonderfully screwy performance. I believe the great Katherine Hepburn must have saw this film and had to base her performance in Bringing Up Baby on Irene's terrific role of Lucy Warriner. Or is it just me?

Cary and Irene worked so well in The Awful Truth, they had to be paired up for another wonderful screwball comedy in 1940's My Favorite Wife, which I enjoyed even more than I did The Awful Truth. Once again the two play a married couple, with a slight difference. After being lost at sea for 7 years and declared dead Ellen Arden (Irene) returns home to find her husband Nick (Cary) remarried to Bianca (the wonderfully underrated Gail Patrick). So Nick has a huge problem to deal with. Who to choose: Ellen or Bianca? Once again Irene Dunne steals the show but her chemistry with Cary is also once again perfect. Their comic timing by now is a match made in heaven.

For their third and final film together, Irene and Cary made the tearjerker/comedy Penny Serenade (1941) which gave the twosome an opportunity to flex their dramatic muscles as a couple who faces one crisis after another once they get married after a short courtship. There is some humor in this film to keep things from getting too dark and depressing and Cary gets to give one of his best screen performances ever. His scene with the judge arguing to keep his adopted daughter in his care is heartbreaking and touching. Serenade was the last film Irene and Cary would do together and they go out with another great film. I know Cary had several other wonderful screen pairings beside Irene like with Myrna Loy, Grace Kelly, and Deborah Kerr. But for me, it's his pairings with Irene that were the best of his team ups. And I would say the same for Irene as she never had a better partner than Cary Grant.

My Favorite Wife (1940).

My Favorite Wife(1940). Comedy produced and co-written by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick. The story is an adaptation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden"; in tribute, the main characters' last name is Arden.



After seven years, lawyer Nick Arden has his missing wife Ellen declared legally dead and now plans to marry Bianca. Ellen was shipwrecked all this time and was living on a deserted island. After being rescued she returns home and learns that Nick has just left hours before on his honeymoon.

Ellen finds him before his wedding night and Nick does not know how to break the news to Bianca. Meanwhile, Bianca becomes upset by Nick's behavior and calls her psychiatrist, Dr. Kohlman. Things become more complicated when an insurance adjuster shares the rumor that Ellen was not alone on the island, but was living with another man and that they called each other "Adam" and "Eve".

Nick tries to explain the situation to Bianca and Dr. Kohlmar, but they do not believe him ... until he is arrested on a charge of bigamy. In court, Judge Bryson , the same judge who had Ellen declared legally dead and also married Nick and Bianca, annuls the second marriage. By this time, Ellen is no longer sure of Nick's feelings for her. Stephen asks her to marry him and return with him to the island, but she still loves Nick and hopes that he will sweep her of her feet..

My Favorite Wife, is a wonderful movie. I do not know which version I like the best..Doris Day and James Garner,may not reach the sophistication of Grant and Dunne, but both films are worth seeing. Cary Grant's facial expression on the elevator when he sees Dunne for the first time after 7 years is very memorable.

Fun Facts:

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Story, Best Score and Best Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk.

20th Century Fox began filming a 1962 remake starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and Cyd Charisse under the working title of Something's Got to Give, which was to be directed by George Cukor. There were problems from the beginning, mostly due to Monroe's failure to show up on time for work. Monroe was fired and Martin backed out when the studio attempted to recast Monroe's role with Lee Remick. Following Monroe's death in August 1962, Doris Day and James Garner were cast, and the new version was released by Fox as Move Over, Darling (1963)

Second of three movies that paired Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

Gail Patrick (June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980), appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's rival. Some of these roles include: My Favorite Wife (1940) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's competitor in, Dangerous to Know (1938) and Carole Lombard's spoiled sister in, My Man Godfrey (1936), Wives Under Suspicion (1938) and Disbarred (1939).

Patrick retired from acting in films in 1948 and later, with her third husband Thomas Cornwell Jackson, became a producer of the Perry Mason television series (1957–1966).