"Hired Wife" must have seemed like a can't-miss follow-up to "His Girl Friday". Rosalind Russell is cast, once again, as the indispensable right-hand (wo)man to the big boss, with suave Brian Aherne in the Cary Grant role. The plot was reversed, however, with Russell pursuing the boss, instead of vice versa.
There are some good moments in the film -- many of them supplied by Robert Benchley portraying his usual drunken, befuddled sidekick.
Unfortunately, where "His Girl Friday" was crisp and energetic, "Hired Wife" is slow and lethargic -- perhaps it should have been named "Tired Wife." Even worse, where HGF is full of belly laughs, HW only produces occasional smiles.
To those who would blame the result on the replacement of Cary Grant with Brian Aherne, I would point out that Aherne was very good in a similar role in "Merrily We Live" which was a much funnier film. No, I think the key difference was MWL was directed by Norman Z. McLeod who did some of the Marx Brothers' best films and HGF was made by the legendary Howard Hawks. The writer of HGF was Charles Lederer who also wrote gems like "I Love You Again," "Love Crazy," and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
It's not terrible, but it has been done so much better in films like "More Than a Secretary," "Wife vs. Secretary," and "She Married Her Boss" among others.
There are some good moments in the film -- many of them supplied by Robert Benchley portraying his usual drunken, befuddled sidekick.
Unfortunately, where "His Girl Friday" was crisp and energetic, "Hired Wife" is slow and lethargic -- perhaps it should have been named "Tired Wife." Even worse, where HGF is full of belly laughs, HW only produces occasional smiles.
To those who would blame the result on the replacement of Cary Grant with Brian Aherne, I would point out that Aherne was very good in a similar role in "Merrily We Live" which was a much funnier film. No, I think the key difference was MWL was directed by Norman Z. McLeod who did some of the Marx Brothers' best films and HGF was made by the legendary Howard Hawks. The writer of HGF was Charles Lederer who also wrote gems like "I Love You Again," "Love Crazy," and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
It's not terrible, but it has been done so much better in films like "More Than a Secretary," "Wife vs. Secretary," and "She Married Her Boss" among others.