Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (3 stars)

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, from 1938, is a romantic comedy starring Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper, with Edward Everett Horton and David Niven taking on supporting roles.  Falling into the "screwball" genre, this film's screenplay was written by director Billy Wilder, with its directing duties going to Ernst Lubitsch.

At a department store on the French Riviera, American millionaire Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper) is shopping for size 42 pajamas.  Although the salesman attempts to sell cologne, neckwear, and other items to him, the man is in the market for only pajamas...and not just any pajamas...rather, he wants only the top, because, as he tells the clerk, he doesn't use---or need---the pants.  Since the salesclerk will not sell him only the top, a woman customer, Nicole de Loiselle (Claudette Colbert) steps in and offers to buy the trousers, as she doesn't want---or need---the top.

Although Michael assumes the pajamas are for Nicole's husband, she assures him she isn't married, which makes him wonder who in the world she is purchasing pajama pants for.  Without an answer to his wondering, the two go their separate ways.

Unable to sleep, and quite sure it is because of his room, Michael insists that he be moved to the fanciest suite in the hotel.  However, when he moves in, he finds that the previous tenant, Marquis De Loiselle (Edward Everett Horton), has not yet moved out.  To his surprise, the man is dressed in striped pajama pants---pants which are much too long for him, which causes Michael to realize that the Marquis is wearing the other half of his recently-purchased pajamas.  He soon discovers that the Marquis' daughter bought them for him.  Thus, the beautiful lady from the department store makes a re-entry into Michael's life.

Though Michael and Nicole's "courtship" starts off on a less than satisfactory note, in due time, they have fallen in love and are planning to be married.  However, only hours before the ceremony, Nicole discovers that Michael has been married before---seven times!!---and she calls off the wedding.  However, with a pre-marriage agreement in place, the cash-strapped Marquis urges his daughter to go through with the marriage---just so she can get a divorce and obtain the $100,000 settlement.

Michael, though, adopting a stubborn, tenacious streak, has no intention of granting Nicole a divorce...no matter that they have separate bedrooms and separate lives or that she is trying to make him think she is involved with another man.  How it all plays out---in very screwball fashion---is the balance of the film.





This film, while enjoyable, is absolutely nothing spectacular.  Yes, Coop was his usual gorgeous self, and he looked fabulous in a tux; yes, Claudette was her usual classy, elegant self.  There's no denying that they were two beautiful stars and that the careers of both were on fire in 1938.  With Miss Colbert's Academy Award-winning performance in It Happened One Night only a few years prior and Coop's Oscar-nominated performance in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town two years earlier, it's obvious that they both had a flair for romantic comedy.  However, being totally honest, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife fell short for me.  I think both Coop and Colbert made far better films than this one.  For Coop, it may be that his character was a selfish millionaire...something light years away from his other roles of that time (or the bulk of his career, for that matter).  At any rate, he seemed completely miscast to me.  Oh, and by the way, there was a very brief scene when Coop was sporting a mustache...may I just say "NO WAY!"  Keep that gorgeous face clean-shaven!

So, though I did enjoy the film, it is certainly not a favorite; nor is it one I feel I ever need to watch again.  (However, a repeat viewing might cause the film to grow on me.)  I definitely think this is a must-see for Coop, Colbert, and screwball fans, though.  It is out on DVD as part of the Claudette Colbert Collection, so you ought to be able to track it down.

Happy viewing!!