''Twin Beds'' is a 1942 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
Tim Whelan
Tim Whelan (November 2, 1893 – August 12, 1957) was an American film director, writer, producer and actor best remembered for his writing credits on ''Harold Lloyd'' and ''Harry Langdon'' comedies, and his directing of mostly British films (e.g ...
, and starring by
George Brent
George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included '' Jezebel'' and '' Dark Victo ...
and
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
. It was distributed 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 ...
. The screenplay was written by Kenneth Earl, Curtis Kenyon and Eddie Moran, based on the
play of the same name by
Salisbury Field
Edward "Ned" Salisbury Field Jr. (February 28, 1878 – September 20, 1936) was an American author, playwright, artist, poet, and journalist.
Biography
He was born on February 28, 1878 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Edward Salisbury and Sarah Mill ...
and Margaret Mayo.
Plot
Even as they walk down the aisle to be joined in holy matrimony, Julie and Mike Abbott argue about her extensive involvement in the USO. For starters, her obligations are in the way of their honeymoon trip.
After a short while of marriage, Mike is tired of Julie's constant working, not being able to spend much time with him at all. Also, the tabloids has a lot of theories about who is to pursue and catch her. On top of this, Julie is involved in arranging an engagement party for her ex-boyfriend, Larky, who is now going to marry her friend Lydia. The party prevents Mike and Julie from having the quiet dinner at home he had planned.
The party is a catastrophe for Mike, who is appalled by all the snobs attending, and jealous of all the men pursuing his wife during the evening. Among others, Nicolai Cherupin, a Russian opera tenor who lives next door, is very keen on socializing with Julie. His wife tells Mike he should watch out, and Mike eventually throws the man out of their apartment. Julie is upset and tells Mike she disapproves of his mistrust in her. In the heat of the moment Mike suggests they replace their double bed with twin beds. A while later the couple make up, but the sound of opera singing reaches them from outside.
Mike demands they move to another building to get rid of the persistent singer. He isn't aware that the singer's wife, Sonya also has decided they should move to a new place, jealous of her husband's shameless behavior. Lydia also wants to move, since she is worried Larky will fall back in love with Julie.
It turns out all three couples move to the same new building. Julie has arranged for twin beds, apparently listening to Mike's angry remark during the party. The singer is convinced that Julie has followed him to the new building because she is infatuated with him. He starts to sing to her, and subsequently Mike decides to leave Julie, believing that she has led the singer on.
Julie rejects the singer's attempt to meet her. He goes to a bar and gets plastered, and when he returns to the building, he is mistakenly let into Mike and Julie's apartment by the door man. The singer falls asleep in Mike's bed, where he is found the next morning by the very disturbed Julie.
Mike boards a train to Canada, but is persuaded by a fellow traveler to return and win Julie back. Upon his arrival back to the apartment, Julie is trying to get rid of the singer. When Julie sees Mike coming, she makes the singer hide in a trunk to avoid him being even more jealous.
The singer's clothes are mistaken for Mike's and the maid takes them to the cleaners. The singer tries to borrow and dress in Mike's clothes, but is constantly interrupted by visitors, forcing him to hide again. The maid eventually removes all clothes from the room and the singer is forced to escape by climbing out the window and down the fire escape.
The singer is caught climbing by Lydia, who believes he is a burglar trying to get in, and he has to flee back up into the apartment bedroom. Larky comes around, finds the singer and starts chasing him. The singer manages to trick Larky, steal his clothes and lock him into a room. Still in his underwear, the singer meets Sonya when she arrives to the apartment with a private investigator whom she has hired to follow her husband.
Larky is released from his prison and the singer is found hidden, in his underwear, in the trunk. Mike and Julie decide to move again, and after they make up they choose to return to their old apartment.
Main cast
*
George Brent
George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included '' Jezebel'' and '' Dark Victo ...
as Mike Abbott
*
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
as Julie Abbott
*
Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковский; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russians, Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in fi ...
as Nicolai Cherupin
*
Una Merkel
Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress.
Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...
as Lydia
*
Glenda Farrell
Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classical Hollywood films. Farrell's career spanned more than 50 years, appearing in numerous Broadwa ...
as Sonya Cherupin
*
Ernest Truex
Ernest Truex (September 19, 1889 – June 26, 1973) was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
Career
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Truex learned acting at an early age after his father, a doctor, treated actor Edwin Melvin, who ...
as Larky
*
Margaret Hamilton as Norah
Production
The play had been filmed previously in 1920 and 1929. In 1941 Edward Small announced plans to remake it.
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...
was mentioned as a possible male lead with Richard Murphy to direct but in the end George Brent was cast under Tim Whelan's director. Filming started in September 1941.
It was the first of several farces based on old plays Small made during World War II.
Reception
Reviews were mixed.
References
External links
*
*
''Twin Beds''at
Allmovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
{{Edward Small
1942 films
1942 comedy films
American comedy films
American black-and-white films
1940s English-language films
Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin
American films based on plays
Films directed by Tim Whelan
United Artists films
Films produced by Edward Small
1940s American films