''You Can't Fool Your Wife'' is a 1940 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Ray McCarey Raymond Benedict McCarey (September 6, 1904 – December 1, 1948) was an American film director, brother of director Leo McCarey. Biography McCarey began working at Hal Roach Studios, where he did work on short films with Our Gang and Laure ...

and written by

Jerome Cady Jerome Cady (August 15, 1903 – November 7, 1948) was a Hollywood screenwriter. What promised to be a lucrative and successful career as a film writer - graduating up from Charlie Chan movies in the late 1930s to such well respected war films as ...

. The film stars

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

James Ellison James Ellison may refer to: * James O. Ellison (1929–2014), U.S. federal judge * James T. Ellison (1862–1920s), New York gangster *James Ellison (actor) (1910–1993), American film actor * James Ellison (footballer, born 1901) (1901–1958), E ...

Robert Coote Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of ''My Fai ...

, Virginia Vale,

Emma Dunn Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions. Career Emma Dunn appeared onstage in ...

and

Elaine Shepard Elaine Elizabeth Shepard (April 2, 1913 – September 6, 1998) was a Broadway and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She was also the author of ''The Doom Pussy'', a semi-fictional account of aviation in the Vietnam War. Film and stage Shepar ...

. The film was released on May 21, 1940, by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

Plot

Young married couple Andrew Hinklin and Clara Hinklin née Fields, were college sweethearts, but they have started to feel that their lives are unexciting and unmotivated. Their marriage is not helped by Clara's opinionated mother living with them in their small one-bedroom apartment. Clara wishes that their life would be a little more exciting as Andrew said on their honeymoon that their married life would be. Her wish takes an unexpected turn when Andrew, at work, is assigned to show the visiting Mr. Battingcourt Jr. - the younger half of the head of their London office and who is the majority shareholder of their accounting firm - a good time while he's in the US. "Batty" as he is affectionately called by his friends is a party animal, and Andrew, who Batty rechristens "Hinky", feels he has to party along all in the name of job security. Clara feels that she is losing her stable husband Andrew to Hinky the party animal. Due to a misunderstanding with some "figures" at the office, they become separated. Clara's mother does her best to make sure the couple isn't able to talk with each other. Feeling he is partly to blame for the Hinklins' marital problems, Batty advises Clara that she can make herself more exciting to Hinky by changing her demeanor and appearance, more like Mercedes Vasquez, a beautiful and exciting woman. Clara agrees to Batty's plan to come to one of their parties masquerading as exotic Latina Dolores Alvaradez, to woo Hinky and thus ultimately show him that she can be exotic like he probably now wants. Complications ensue when others find out about Batty's scheme and when Mercedes Vasquez, who looks extremely alike to Clara, also attends that party leading to a few mistaken identities.

Cast

as Clara Fields Hinklin / Mercedes Vasquez *

as Andrew 'Hinkie' Hinklin *

as 'Batty' Battincourt * Virginia Vale as Sally *

as Mother Fields *

as Peggy * William Halligan as J.R. Gillespie, Sr. *

Oscar O'Shea Oscar O'Shea (8 October 1881 – 6 April 1960) was a Canadian-American character actor with over 100 film appearances from 1937 to 1953. Early years O'Shea was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Acting O'Shea was a comic actor who earne ...

as Dr. Emery, Colony College Chaplain * Norman Mayes as Porter at Dock * Patsy O'Byrne as Hotel Maid * Charlie Hall as Ritz Amsterdam Bellboy *

Dell Henderson George Adelbert "Dell" Henderson (July 5, 1877 – December 2, 1956) was a Canadian-American actor, film director, director, and writer. He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film. Biography Born in the southwest ...

as Ritz Amsterdam Manager *

Harrison Greene Harrison Greene (January 18, 1884 – September 28, 1945) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1931 and 1945. The son of a jeweler, Greene was born in Portland, Oregon, but grew up in California. He was a d ...

as Sullivan, the House Detective *

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography Cavanaugh was born in Virginia City, Nevada, on September 22, 1886. He attended the University of California, then worked ...

as Potts, GBG & P Vice President *

Walter Sande Walter Sande (July 9, 1906 – February 22, 1972) was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles. Films Born in Denver, Colorado, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no pe ...

as Mr. Gillespie, Jr. * Walter Fenner as Walker *

Irving Bacon Irving Ernest Bacon (September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar West Bacon (who was a teenager) and Myrtle Vane. He was born ...

as Lippincott, GBG & P Clerk

Production

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, he was nomina ...

briefly took over direction during the shoot when director McCarey fell ill.SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD New York Times 8 Feb 1940: 25.

References

External links

* * * {{AFI film, 5037 1940 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films RKO Pictures films Films scored by Roy Webb Films directed by Ray McCarey 1940 comedy films American comedy films Films produced by Cliff Reid 1940s American films English-language comedy films