Line #41 Film/MrAndMrsSmith1941


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5111.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:We're screwbally!]]
3
4	[[SimilarlyNamedWorks No, not the one]] [[Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005 with the spies and guns.]]
5
6	This is a 1941 ScrewballComedy directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock, starring Creator/CaroleLombard and Creator/RobertMontgomery.
7
8	When the film begins, married New Yorkers Ann and David Smith haven’t left their bedroom for three days due to a spat. Happily, they reconcile, but all of Ann’s relationship rules leave David feeling just a little controlled. Ann asks him an important question before she lets him get back to work: if he could do it all over again, would he have married her? [[NiceJobBreakingItHero He answers with a "no"]]-- not the right answer.
9
10	After a lot of soothing on David’s part, Ann finally lets him go to work. While there, a notary from Idaho visits David’s practice (he’s a lawyer) and says that due to a technicality, Ann and David aren’t really married. Rather than being upset, David is titillated at the prospect of being with Ann and treating it as an illicit affair. Meanwhile, the same notary, who has known Ann since she was a little girl, visits her and her mother. He tells her of the news, and [[ValuesDissonance Ann’s mother is shocked]]. Ann, on the other hand, isn’t worried because she knows David will propose and marry her that night. But while visiting their old dating spot, Momma Lucy’s Restaurant, Ann discovers that David has no intention of telling her the news or marrying her anytime soon. Her anger only intensifies when they’re home, and David is jauntily getting ready for bed--getting champagne, [[SlipIntoSomethingMoreComfortable putting on his PJ’s with a pocket square]]. Ann knows [[ReadyForLovemaking this song and dance]], and in a flash of anger, she kicks David out, because he had the gall to want to sleep with his technically unmarried wife…
11
12	This leads to amusing anecdotes with [[DivorceIsTemporary David trying to win Ann back]], Ann dating David’s partner, Jeff Custer, and lots of [[BelligerentSexualTension bickering]].
13
14	Notable for being Carole Lombard’s penultimate film (her last being ''Film/ToBeOrNotToBe'') before dying in a plane crash at the age of 33. It’s also worth noting that this was Alfred Hitchcock’s only straight RomanticComedy / ScrewballComedy film,[[note]] Not his only comedy in general, however. He'd later do ''Film/TheTroubleWithHarry'', which was a BlackComedy, in 1955 and his later films had elements of dark comedy sprinkled in.[[/note]] and quite different than his comedy-infused thrillers.
15
16	----
17	!!''Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' provides examples of:
18	* AlcoholHic: Jeff lets one out right after his second drink.
19	* AllWomenArePrudes: PlayedStraight with Ann’s mother and Ann…[[spoiler: Then, {{Subverted}} at the end where Ann has no problem getting back with David. Sexy times ensue]].
20	* AllMenArePerverts: How dare David think that he can get some when he’s technically not married but has been common-law for three years!
21	* AmusementPark: Jeff and Ann go to the fair and get stuck on the parachute ride.
22	* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Ann and David. Come on! Just get back together.
23	* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Of course, they get back together.
24	* BrutalHonesty: What gets David into trouble with Ann.
25	* CantHoldHisLiquor: Poor Jeff can only have two glasses of liquor before he’s a bumbling fool.
26	* CatchYourDeathOfCold: While stuck on the parachute ride, it starts to rain. Ann tells Jeff that he’s catching cold quickly, and the moment they get off, they need to go Jeff’s place and change clothes.
27	* ContrivedCoincidence: What happens right after David mentions that if he wasn’t married to Ann, he wouldn’t be married at all? Someone informs them that they aren’t technically married.
28	* CreatorCameo: Hitchcock appears after David comes out of his apartment building, walking past him.
29	* DisposableFiancee: Ann is engaged to Jeff for a short while. We all know this won't last for long since he's bland perfection.
30	* DivorceIsTemporary: There wasn’t technically a marriage to need a divorce, but Ann and David, especially Ann, go their different ways for a while like a divorced couple. Albeit, temporarily.
31	* EvenTheRatsWontTouchIt: At Momma Lucy’s, David is concerned [[MakesSenseInContext that the cat won’t eat the soup]] they’re eating. It has eaten everything else, except the soup.
32	-->'''David Smith''': I'd give five bucks to see that cat take a sip of that soup.
33	* ExiledToTheCouch: Exiled to the country club.
34	* LoveEpiphany: Jeff doesn’t come to Ann’s defense when David angrily holds her down, and she realizes that Jeff’s gentleman qualities are spineless, and she'd rather be with David; he’s someone who won’t put up with her crap.
35	* SexyBacklessOutfit: Carole wears a beautiful black dress with a two-tiered skirt, and a scoop back.
36	* SleepingSingle: Averted. Ann and David’s bedroom shows only one bed.
37	* SlipIntoSomethingMoreComfortable: Averted. Once Jeff gets home, he says this exact line, but comes out wearing… another white tie outfit.
38	* SouthernGentleman: Jeff Custer.
39	-->'''David''': Why you hillbilly ambulance chaser.
40	* TheTeetotaler: Jeff never drinks, because he was influence by a Temperance sermon as a young man.
41	* WardrobeMalfunction: Ann got married in a black skirt-suit, but it has "shrunk" (according to Ann) and she needs to use pins to keep it together. Unfortunately, they keep coming undone.
42

Context Film / MrAndMrsSmith1941