Merry Wives of Reno

Three couples head for Reno divorces and cause each other mischief along the way in this wild and witty comedy.

Donald Woods and Margaret Lindsay are the cute couple: As the picture opens, they are celebrating their first wedding anniversary. It's all lovey-dovey to start with but things quickly go wrong when her anniversary gift to him goes missing.

Their neighbors, Ruth Donnelly and Guy Kibbee, are the bickering couple: "In the 19 years I've been married to you," Kibbee complains as they sit down to eat, "I've never gotten a chance to find out whether you could cook or not. You've always started a quarrel before I got started eating."

Glenda Farrell and Hugh Herbert are the wacky couple. Herbert is a sheep fancier who takes a sheep named Eloise around with him everywhere, including their ritzy apartment; Farrell finds amusement other ways, such as inviting over handsome boat salesman Donald Woods, who mistakenly thinks he's there to sell her a boat.

The entire cast is excellent; perhaps best of all is Frank McHugh as a smooth-talking bellboy with many talents. The script is full of snappy dialog and a rather delightful disdain for anything remotely serious, although eventually the many divorce and infidelity jokes start to show the film's age—it aims at being naughty but seems a bit labored instead.

It's pretty much pure silliness, and very entertaining for those of us who love to see a great cast of character actors cutting loose.