Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

 

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett from a play by Alfred Savoir
Starring Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, Edward Everett Horton, David Niven
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Billy Wilder is one of the giants of film, one of the first writer-directors.* He often collaborated, first with Charles Brackett and later with I.A.L. Diamond. Bluebeard's Eighth Wife was the first of his collaborations with Brackett and an odd take on a romantic comedy.

Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper) is an American millionaire who insists on getting his way. He shows this in a store, where he insists on buying just the top of a set of pajamas. The store won't budge until a passing woman named Nicole (Claudette Colbert) offers to buy the bottoms. All is settled and they go their separate ways. Brandon later insists on getting a different room in his hotel because of his insomnia and when shown it, the previous resident, the Marquis de Loiselle (Edward Everett Horton) is in the bed despite being evicted from non-payment. Brando sees that de Loiselle is wearing the pajama bottoms that Nicole has bought and learns she is his daughter. He decides he wants to marry her. Nicole already has a platonic relationship  with Albert De Regnier (David Niven) who turns out to work for Brandon. Brandon romances Nicole and it blows hot and cold until she finally falls in love with  him.

There are a couple of snags. The Marquis is a small-time con artist and sees this as a way to pay off his debts. But the bigger snag is that Brandon has been married. Seven times before. A couple of his exes have died, but most divorced him. Nicole is appalled and refuses to go through with the marriage, but her father insists she does so he's not arrested.  Brandon offers a prenup** that will pay Nicole $100,000 -- twice what his other wives are getting -- if they divorce. Nicole marries Brandon, but keeps her distance from her husband.

The movie is a tug of war as the two spouses fall in and out of love.

The movie was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and has his trademark touch and hints of sex that push the Production Code without actually crossing the line.  There are many good touches and jokes.

Gary Cooper is a fine actor, but really not a romantic leading man. In his best work, any romance is secondary and it just doesn't seem right to be at center stage, though he makes a good effort. Claudette Colbert does have a knack for this sort of film and is fun to watch. Edward Everett Horton is also cast in a different type of role than usual, but he's not really convincing as a con man.

The film was a disappointment at the box office, possibly because Cooper was miscast. Still, Wilder and Brackett were a wildly successful pairing, with thirteen films together and two Oscars.

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*The great Preston Sturges preceded him as a writer-director in Hollywood, though Wilder had co-directed a film before coming to America.

**It's not called that in the movie, but it has the same effect.