''An Innocent Affair'' is a 1948 American
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, an ...
and written by
Lou Breslow
Lou Breslow (born Lewis Breslow; July 18, 1900 – November 10, 1987) was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 70 films between 1928 and 1955. He also directed seven films between 1932 and 1951 and wrote scripts for both ...
and Joseph Hoffman. The film stars
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...
,
Madeleine Carroll
Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress.
Carroll is rememb ...
,
Charles "Buddy" Rogers,
Rita Johnson,
Louise Allbritton
Louise Allbritton (July 3, 1920 – February 16, 1979) was an American film and stage actress born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her name was sometimes seen as Louise Albritton.
She played in such films as ''Pittsburgh'' (1942), '' Who Done It?'' ...
and
Alan Mowbray. It was released on October 15, 1948 by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
. In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, the film was released under the title ''Don't Trust Your Husband''.
Plot
Advertising man Vincent Doane is assigned to land Margot Fraser's perfume account. Anxious that his wife Paula might become jealous, he tells her that the account is with a Mr. Fraser.
Paula becomes suspicious and plays a trick on Vincent. She hires an actor to pretend to be a gigolo who is interested in her, but she does not know that Vincent knows about the ruse. Business tycoon Claude Kimball is mistaken for the gigolo and is ensnared in the Doanes' schemes.
Vincent is shocked when Claude arranges for a multimillion-dollar tobacco account to come his way. Paula demands a divorce during the confusion, convinced that Vincent has been having an affair with Margot. At a train station, Margot slaps Paula, who finally realizes that her husband has been faithful to her all along.
Cast
*
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...
as Vincent Doane
*
Madeleine Carroll
Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress.
Carroll is rememb ...
as Paula Doane
*
Charles "Buddy" Rogers as Claude Kimball (as Chas. "Buddy Rogers)
*
Rita Johnson as Eve Lawrence
*
Louise Allbritton
Louise Allbritton (July 3, 1920 – February 16, 1979) was an American film and stage actress born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her name was sometimes seen as Louise Albritton.
She played in such films as ''Pittsburgh'' (1942), '' Who Done It?'' ...
as Margot Fraser
*
Alan Mowbray as Ken St. Clair
*
Michael Romanoff as Venetian Room
Maître d'hôtel (as Mike Romanoff)
*
Pierre Watkin
Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the b ...
as T.D. Hendricks
*
William Tannen as Gaylord
*
James Seay as Lester Burnley
*
Matt McHugh as Ted Burke
*
Marie Blake as Hilda
*Susan Miller as Venetian Room Vocalist
*
Anne Nagel as Gladys
*Eddie Le Baron as Venetian Room Orchestra Leader
*Jane Weeks as Dori
Production
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...
bought the story from writers
Lou Breslow
Lou Breslow (born Lewis Breslow; July 18, 1900 – November 10, 1987) was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 70 films between 1928 and 1955. He also directed seven films between 1932 and 1951 and wrote scripts for both ...
and
Joseph Hoffman
Joseph Hoffman (1909–1997) was an American screenwriter.Shelley p.228
Biography
Hoffman began his career with a bang as a screenwriter in the mid-1930s and was installed as a junior screenwriter at 20th Century Fox. He is credited with wri ...
and then sold it to Nasser Productions for $75,000, returning him a large profit. MacMurray was paid more than $150,000 for his role in the film and also received a percentage of its profits.
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
and
Myrna Loy were considered for the role of Paula Doane.
Nasser Productions made a lucrative offer to Italian conductor
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...
to compose the film's music but eventually hired
Hans J. Salter
Hans J. Salter (January 14, 1896 in Vienna – July 23, 1994 in Studio City, Cal.) was an Austrian- American film composer.
Biography
Salter gained his education from the Vienna Academy of Music and studied composition with Alban Berg, Franz S ...
.
Buddy Rogers received ballroom dance lessons from
Arthur Murray for the film.
Filming was delayed by the late arrival of
Madeleine Carroll
Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress.
Carroll is rememb ...
but began on March 15, 1948.
After positive preview screenings, producer James Nasser purchased another comedy script written by Breslow and Hoffman titled ''You Made Me Love You'' for $100,000. Nasser intended the project as a sequel of sorts to ''An Innocent Affair'', with director
Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, an ...
, Rogers, MacMurray and Carroll returning, but the film did not materialize.
Reception
In a contemporary review for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', critic Thomas M. Pryor wrote: "Perhaps the writers didn't try hard enough, or perhaps this picture represents their level best, but, in any case, the truth of the matter is that the merriment is spread rather thin and unevenly. 'Bounce' is what this farcical excursion lacks."
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Innocent Affair, An
1948 films
American black-and-white films
United Artists films
1948 comedy films
American comedy films
Films directed by Lloyd Bacon
Films scored by Hans J. Salter
1940s English-language films
1940s American films