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Overview for How To Murder Your Wife (1965)

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Overview
Brief Synopsis
After marrying while drunk, a cartoonist puts his murderous fantasies into his work.
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Synopsis

Wealthy bachelor cartoonist Stanley Ford lives in a New York City apartment, his unmarried bliss protected by his English valet, Charles. After getting drunk at a stag party, however, Stanley awakens the following morning to find himself married to the girl who popped out of a cake at the party. She is an Italian who speaks little English and who was stranded in the United States after coming here to participate in a beauty contest. Stanley tries to get the marriage annulled, but Harold, his attorney, who has always wanted Stanley to wed and settle down, advises him that annulment and divorce are impossible. Mrs. Ford's "feminization" of his home and daily routine drives Stanley to distraction. Having always tried out his comic-strip situations in real life before committing them to paper, Stanley drops a dummy dressed as his wife into a foundation form at a building site; and tons of concrete are poured over the dummy. He makes this incident part of a wife-murder in his comic strip, and when Mrs. Ford sees it on his drawing board she panics and flees. Realizing at last that he loves and misses his wife, Stanley notifies the police of her disappearance; but workmen at the building site see Stanley's comic-strip account of the wife-murder and likewise notify the police. Stanley is arrested and charged with murdering his wife as depicted in the strip. At his trial Stanley delivers a tirade against marriage to the all-married male jury, convincing them that they all have wife-murder in the back of their minds, and he is acquitted. To his surprise, Mrs. Ford returns to him.

Cast & Crew
Jack Lemmon
as Stanley Ford
Virna Lisi
as Mrs. Ford
Terry-Thomas
as Charles
Eddie Mayehoff
as Harold Lampson
Sidney Blackmer
as Judge Blackstone
Max Showalter
as Tobey Rawlins
Jack Albertson
as Dr. Bentley
Alan Hewitt
as District Attorney
Mary Wickes
as Harold's secretary
See all cast & crew >>
Release Date
Jan 1965

Color/BW
Color (Technicolor)

Sound
Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Production Dates
not available


Duration (in mins)
118

Premiere Information
New York opening: 26 Jan 1965
not available


Distribution Company
United Artists

Production Company
Murder Inc.


Country
United States
Title is not currently scheduled.

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How To Murder Your Wife [DVD] (1965)
Available on DVD.
$14.99 only $13.49
Darrell Crouch
Great Movie
Jack Lemmon is good, as usual, in this comedy. Terry Thomas does a terrific job in playing the butler. Verna ...  More>>
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