A young man has to be married by midnight otherwise his inheritance goes to his uncle who lives in a haunted house. His fiancée is flying in from Kansas but her plane is delayed. The man is in debt to his boss who arranges for him to go to the uncle with his moll disguised as his wife, who is engaged to a speed cop. Everybody arrives in the house during a storm, so they have to spend the night there, creating opportunities for a Feydeau farce. It soon becomes apparent that the uncle wants the inheritance himself, and is doing his best to keep everyone else out of the picture, not least by scaring them with a tame panther. Of course it all works out happily. The first part of the film was more interesting with shots of early concreted roads, some unmade mountain roads which I suspect have appeared in more films than any actors, the usual speed cops hiding behind walls to trap motorists, and a Ford Trimotor. Acting awards to some splendid old cars. It was all family fare, but one felt in French hands it would have been more risqué, and the director wished it had been.
Review of Borrowed Wives
