Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond

Running time: 94 minutes

David Smith, a lawyer living in New York, is visited at his office by a county official telling him that, due to a matter of jurisdictions, his marriage to his wife Ann is invalid. Over the course of the day, Ann finds out about this through the same official, a childhood friend. When her husband fails to discuss the matter with her as she expected when he comes home, a quarrel erupts that leads to their separation. David, who beforehand had his doubts about married life, will try anything to conquer the woman he loves.

Though this film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it certainly cannot be called Hitchcockian in nature. It is anything but that, really. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a plain little screwball farce. There are some funny moments, but there is a lack of substance to it all: Nothing much ever happens. All the way through, I was waiting for something for Godot, so to speak. It is a little lover’s quarrel stretched out over more than 90 minutes. The people involved were all talented, but I just lost interest pretty quickly.

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