How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

Director: Richard Quine
Date Watched: 4-15-2022
Where: Streamed
Rating: 8/10

I’d watched this once when I was very young, with my mother and father. I believe they had watched it when it came out, or at least had seen it before, though I’m not entirely certain about that. I do know my mom was a big Jack Lemmon fan. I remember that as a kid I thought it was funny, but I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it as an adult.

Sure enough, it’s as good, or perhaps better, than I remembered.

Jack Lemmon is a cartoonist who draws one of the most popular daily comics in the country, with his selling point being that he never has his character, Bash Brannigan, do anything he hasn’t done first. That means running about New York firing fake guns and locating non-existent microfilm, with his butler, played with aplomb, as ever, by the great Terry-Thomas, following behind with a camera to capture poses that will later be turned into cartoons by Lemmon.

He’s also a confirmed bachelor, until he wakes up married after a drunken night out. Unable to get out of the marriage, he decides that if he can’t return to the single life, Bash can, and he concocts a new storyline in which Bash also wakes up married, and begins plotting to murder his wife.

Eddie Mayehoff co-stars as Lemmon’s attorney, and his performance makes one wonder why he didn’t make more films. He bounced from smug friend to henpecked husband flawlessly, and his droll delivery is great. He should have been in another 100 films as a character actor.

I won’t spoil any more of the plot, but suffice to say the trial scene, and Lemmon’s unconventional defense strategy, are the highlight of the film. Push the button!

How to Murder Your Wife Movie Poster

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