“I thought you might think what I thought you were thinking”
– Doris Day (1963)
This truly bizarre rom-com is not only unexpectedly enjoyable, it bucks the trend often assumed of remakes, in that it is far superior to its inspiration. Returning home after years of being lost at sea, Ellen Arden finds that she has been officially declared dead and recently replaced by her husband. But the silliness really begins when she follows the bride and groom to their honeymoon and Nick Arden must manage his accidental bigamy.
The original, My Favourite Wife, stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne and is played shamelessly for laughs without much consideration for the seriousness of the wild storyline. Mrs Arden 2.0, Bianca, is a bore and elicits little sympathy despite her obviously blameless predicament. The rival love interest Steven, is unrealistically impressive yet frankly seems to be a decent alternative to the stupendously cowardly and envious Nick. At the point you think the film has resolved itself, it drags you through another unnecessarily strange 10 minutes of playing hard-to-get which ends with Cary Grant dressed as Santa Claus in spring. (I don’t know).
Move Over, Darling had some reparation work to do, and against all the odds, succeeded! Tonally there is a huge difference. Although still a comedy, and less afraid of slapstick than My Favourite Wife, there are heartfelt moments and a true sense that Ellen Arden really missed her family for those years she was away. Doris Day leads the cast and does so with a playful charm and unquestionable authority. Bianca’s character is better developed; despite still being emotionally manipulative and whiny, she is also lustful (1) and kooky – at least by the standard of the times: her interest in psychology is supposed to discredit her. Steven is more of a pest than a prospect and the resolution feels earnt and just.
“How was my funeral? … I wish I’d been there.”
– Irene Dunne (1940)
Between these polar opposites is the 1962 remake Something’s Got To Give starring Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin. Famously Marilyn died before the film was finished so it only exists in part. This was the first feature she had made in a year, having taken some time off for surgery and her depression. When she returned she had lost a lot of weight; Twentieth Century Fox were delighted, producer Henry Weinstein said ‘she didn’t have to perform, she just had to look great’ (2). As she became too difficult to handle, having to be coaxed out of her trailer and regularly fluffing lines in a drug-induced haze (2), Fox fired her but Dean Martin refused to work with anyone else. His contract stipulated that he had approval of his co-star, so they eventually agreed to rehire her. Whether she knew this when she took her own life in August 1962 is unknown (3).
From what exists of the footage from Something’s Got To Give, it is clear that it wasn’t nearly as polished as Move Over, Darling. It is in fact more similar to My Favourite Wife in that it selects its moments of seriousness and silliness incorrectly and I found myself cringing in the same places. Perhaps it was the extra time spent on the script, or maybe Doris Day was just better suited to the role, but the most recent version certainly blows the others out of the water.
I wanted to write about this remake of a remake because it feels special: it cannot fundamentally be made again! There is no way that a ship or a plane could lose passengers without a trace, certainly not for 5 or more years, nowadays. In a time when Hollywood seems to churn out increasingly recognisable stories lacking originality, this is unique. Don’t get me wrong, this film isn’t life-changingly good; but there is a certain satisfaction that comes with an old school rom-com that’s as weird as this one is.
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Move Over, Darling. (1963). Film. Michael Gordon. Dir. USA: Melcher-Arcola Productions.
Something’s Got To Give. (1962). Film. George Cukor. Dir. USA: Twentieth Century Fox.
My Favourite Wife. (1940) Film. Garson Kanin. Dir. USA: RKO Radio Pictures.
- ‘Move Over, Darling’. Variety. https://variety.com/1962/film/reviews/move-over-darling-1200420360/
- Alexandra Pollard. ‘Something’s Got to Give: The story of the Marilyn Monroe film that never got made’. Independent. 29 Mar 2019. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/somethings-got-to-give-marilyn-monroe-some-like-it-hot-final-film-footage-dead-movie-a8844316.html
- ‘Marilyn: Something’s Got To Give’. IMBD. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215969/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
Move Over, Darling is available on DVD. See Find the Films for where to watch or buy it.
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