''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

as Vincent Doane *

as Paula Doane * Charles "Buddy" Rogers as Claude Kimball (as Chas. "Buddy Rogers) * Rita Johnson as Eve Lawrence *

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

bought the story from writers

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

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

, 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