Review of How To Murder Your Wife

Introduction

Written by George Axelrod (Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, Breakfast at Tiffany`s and Manchurian Candidate), HTMYW is one of the classic battle-of-the-sexes comedies of the 1950s and 60s. Jack Lemmon plays perennial bachelor and cartoon strip author Stanley Ford who lives the perfect carefree bachelor existence waited on hand-and-foot by his English butler Charles (Terry-Thomas). That is until Stanley gets drunk at a party and wakes up married to an Italian beauty contest winner who jumped out of the cake (Virna Lisi).

Initially divorce is the first thing on Stanley`s mind, but before long he settles into married life, much to Charles` disgust. Then the changes to his lifestyle and his new bride`s demands on his time awaken the misogynist playboy once again and he starts to plot an escape from married life - at least for his former superspy comic strip hero Bash Brannigan whose lifestyle has started to mirror Stanley`s.

So Stanley meticulously plans the downfall of Mrs Brannigan in the strip - acting out the plot as he has always done for reference and realism for his strip. Goofball pills in the lady`s drink - brripp! she`s dancing on the piano, then blaapp! she`s out cold. A quick trip across from the apartment to the building site opposite on a crane and a dummy doubling for the unfortunate missus winds up in foundations ready for the gloppita-gloppita machine to pour concrete in the morning.

But then Mrs Stanley Ford disappears and the entire nation has seen how he murdered her in the funnies section. Stanley faces trial for murder, even though no body has been found...

This movie is a period piece. It`s a typical 1960s Hollywood reaction to early feminism, and while you can`t call it misogynistic, you can call it woefully naive. It is however fascinating to see what the Playboy-era American male considered an ideal lifestyle, and how latently gay it was.

Jack Lemmon was always highly watchable in whatever he did, and in this Sunday-afternoon-telly movie he is marvellously supported by Terry-Thomas as his "man" Charles, Eddie Mayehoff as his hapless friend and attorney, Virna Lisi as his unexpected bride and Claire Trevor as (Mayehoff`s) wife. The highlight of the movie has to be the look on Mayehoff`s face when as part of his defence Lemmon`s Stanley draws a chalk push-button on the rail of the jury and offers him freedom by the painless annihilation of his hen-pecking wife by simply pushing the button.

You may agree with the sentiments of this movie, you may want to sling a brick at the screen. It`s a deliciously black comedy that`s worth watching if only to reflect on how completely attitudes have changed between 1965 and 2005.

Video

The movie is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The transfer is non-anamorphic, so black bars are evident. The print is acceptable, transferred from a reasonably clean master with little dirt or damage. There are some age artefacts.

Audio

The original mono soundtrack is reproduced in Dolby Digital 2.0.

Features

There are subtitles, but no other extras.

Conclusion

This frequently-broadcast movie is a product of its era, a distinctly misogynist (albeit tongue-in-cheek) diatribe against marriage and the hold that women have over men. Jack Lemmon essays his usual highly-strung performance and Terry-Thomas exudes oily charm as his Jeevesian butler.