Don't Tell the Wife (1937) User Reviews

Movie Without Any Stars

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 12 July 2005]

The busiest players in the Hollywood Studio era had to be the character actors. I don't think any of them rested at all. A whole gang of them got to work here in Don't Tell the Wife and with no star to steal scenes from they practiced their scene stealing monkeyshines on each other.

Guy Kibbee writes a financial column and a group of conmen Thurston Hall, Guinn Williams, Lynne Overman, and William Demarest have decided he's the perfect gullible dupe in which to hide their nefarious scheme involving a gold mine. They also need some seed money for their enterprise and a related con involves Lynne Overman convincing wife Una Merkel that the scheme is on the up and up. Kibbee is also used as a patsy for that.

That's as far as I'm going to go, but if you watch this picture and see all these wonderful players do their shtick, you almost might forget the plot here.

There was one star here however and one Academy Award winner. Hattie McDaniel is down in the cast list as, what else, a maid. And in a small role as the secretary to the schemers was Lucille Ball who became a bigger name than any of them. But that was in the distant future.

An hour well-spent.

[mkilmer · 7/10 · 28 November 2006]

This on was a lot of fun. A reformed con man (Lynne Overman as "Steve Dorsey") gets lured back into the fraud business, having to lie to his beloved wife to do so. They're selling fake stock, and they hire a patsy, "Malcom Winthrop" to front it. He has the right name to make the deal sound sweet.

Guy Kibbee is brilliant as Winthrop, but you feel bad for the character as he is made to feel important when he is really a pawn. He tries to be helpful, but everything collapses on him. Meanwhile, the racket continues with the feds closing in.

It's interesting to note that a young Lucille Ball is in this film, but she's not yet given laughs. I wondered what if Ball had played the leading lady, "Ann Dosey"? No. It's not a funny role and Una Merkel plays it perhaps better than it merits.

It's a short movie and a few pretty good laughs.

phony gold mine caper

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 2 July 2019]

When Winthorp gets out of jail, he meets up with the gang (Big Boy Williams and William Demarest) and quickly starts planning his next caper, selling shares in a phony mine. Lynne Overman is Steven, who might also be interested, but his loud bossy wife (Una Merkel) runs the roost. and Lucy is the secretary of the phony mine company. not much of a part, really. it's all okay. kind of choppy, as they try to stay one step ahead of the law. William Demarest was always Great, and Una Merkel steals the show. Not bad, but not anyone's best work. Directed by Christy Cabanne, who had started out with D.W. Griffith, but never achieved that kind of greatness. fun to finally see this one, since they hardly ever show it. early Lucy.

Lighthearted Fun !

[tmpj · 10 June 2002]

Any flick with Guy Kibbee or Thurston Hall or Guinn 'Big-Boy' Williams has got to have entertainment value. The chemistry works with "Don't Tell The Wife". A con-man tries to get out of the rackets and settle down with his wife, but the pull of the old game is too strong for him to resist. He's got to make another score for security and for old time's sake. The wife doesn't buy in quickly. Kibbee helps to convince her via his bumbling character in this flick (which probably would have been better handled by a Cecil Calloway or Frank Morgan). In times prior to this, the chiselers had sold phony stock to phony mines. This time there is a real mine, but what happens comes as quite a surprise to all concerned. Completely out of touch with reality, and only suggestive of madcap without going overboard, this one is actually kinda entertaining.

Nothing special B comedy with an under-utilized cast of talented character actors

[jacobs-greenwood · 6/10 · 18 December 2016]

Directed by Christy Cabanne, with a screenplay by Nat Perrin that was based on the George Holland play "Once Over Lightly", this B movie comedy isn't anything special (it under utilizes a cast filled with talented character actors), but the story does move quickly through a one hour running time such that it should keep the interest of an undemanding audience.

Having just gotten out of prison (where George Irving plays the warden) for a similar scheme, (a character played by) Thurston Hall, with his old gang of con men Lynne Overman, Thurston Hall, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, William Demarest, and Harry Tyler (along with Lucille Ball, whom they hire as their phony business's receptionist) have hatched a plan to scam newfound monies out of unsuspecting persons at the end of the Depression, by selling them shares in a thought-to-be worthless New Mexico gold mine. But gentleman farmer Overman is the only one who has the money to fund their front, and his wife (played by Una Merkel) controls the purse-strings. So, the men deceive Guy Kibbee's character, who happens to have the same last name as a well known wealthy family (Winthrop), into being their new enterprise's chairman in order to convince her it's legitimate.

Unfortunately, ignorant Kibbee commits mail fraud such that the Feds (Frank M. Thomas) are ready to put everyone away. However, when Kibbee finally discovers that he's been duped, along with Merkel, he takes matters into his own hands and, lo & behold, discovers (from Si Jenks's character) that the gold mine is really loaded such that he's able to save the day. Bradley Page plays a salesman hired to sell the sham stock; Hattie McDaniel appears uncredited as Merkel's housekeeper.

Una Merkel Has One Of Her Best Roles Under the Code

[boblipton · 7/10 · 21 October 2023]

Thurston Hall gets out of prison and back to selling gold mines in a boiler room. He's got a new wrinkle to avoid going to prison: he's got a mine. Is there gold in it, asks one of his crew? He has no idea.

They tap Lynne Overman for the start-up capital, but his wife, Una Merkel, wants to know who's backing the operation. One of the Wall Street Winthrops, he claims; so they track down clownish Guy Kibbee, whose name happens to be Winthrop, to serve as the nominal head of the firm.

There's a fine selection of comics in this movie directed by Christy Cabanne, including 'Big Boy' Williams, William Demarest, Lucille Ball, and Si Jenks. Cabanne has the reputation of being one of the worst directors ever to grind film, but given a decent budget, he proved that false, and here's the proof. It's very funny.

Yes, a screwball comedy about gold investments.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 16 April 2020]

This weird misfire of a screwball comedy features a great cast of character actors in leading roles yet falls flat as it takes a dive in the screwball comedy movie market. Lynne Overman is the typical get-rich-quick schemer, becoming involved with con artist Thurston Hall in an attempt to grab investors in the gold market. Along comes stock expert Guy Kibbee who somehow miraculously turn siscon scheme into something successful although it's threatened to cause damage to Overman's marriage to the perky Una Merkel. The presence of Lucille Ball as a secretary, Hattie McDaniel as the maid (of course) to Merkel and Overman when they think they've hit it rich and movie heavy Bradley Page does add some sparkle, but it involves a subject that general audience would most likely not really be interested in and is probably too complex to make any sense. RKO gives it the glamorous try but I don't see this as a subject screwball comedy does well with, and for that reason, it probably failed with audiences in 1937 as it would 83 years later.

Uno Miracle

[michaelchager · 8/10 · 28 October 2023]

A fun Nat Perrin script gives some big laughs to Si Jenks. A gold mine of experienced talent is found under Cabanne's direction. Wonderful to see Una in the uno role. Guy Kibbee carries the action and stars in this. Mix together co-conspirators Thurston Hall, Lynne Overman, Big Boy Williams, William Demarest and numerous others in a convention of characters sucked into the caper. You get a unique chemistry of clever dialogue. Not dated, this is immersed in a modern culture of fraudulent phone sales which has only grown since 1937. This turns into a Western for a few minutes and ends with marital bliss. Lucille Ball and Hattie McDaniel are also involved. If you ever rooted for Una to get a lead role where she defers to no one, this is for you.

Great Cast but No Laughs

[Michael_Elliott · 1 May 2012]

Don't Tell the Wife (1937)

** (out of 4)

An all-star cast of character actors are wasted in this rather flat comedy. A con man gets released from prison and decides to head back into the stock fraud racket but his ex-partner is now married and his wife (Una Merkel) refuses to let him "invest" any money unless they can show proof that this new business deal is legit. They hire a dimwitted magazine writer (Guy Kibbee) to pretend to be a wizard at stocks but he ends up causing more trouble than anything. DON'T TELL THE WIFE has a decent idea but sadly it never comes together due in large part to some poor pacing from director Christy Cabanne but also a very weak screenplay that frankly just doesn't contain anything funny. It's a real shame that the screenplay is so disappointing because we're treated to a very good cast. Kibbee really can't add too much to the film as he's playing the same type of dimwitted character that he had countless times by this point in his career. The actor is always charming to watch but his character is really letdown by the script. Merkel is also wasted in her supporting role as is Lynne Overman as her husband and Thurston Hall as the con man. Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams plays his typical dumb thug and we also get Lucille Ball in a small part as well as Hattie McDaniel in a brief bit and we also have Wilfred Lucas in a very brief bit. DON'T TELL THE WIFE remains mildly entertaining thanks to the wonderful cast but there's just no getting around the fact that for a comedy there just aren't any laughs.