Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
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29% of critics liked it
(7 reviews) -
68% of users liked it
(516 ratings)
The great Ernst Lubitsch directed this farce (written by Charles M. Brackett and Billy Wilder) about a free-wheeling millionaire, Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper), who enjoys getting married but has a hard time staying married: he's had seven wives and is looking for number eight. He thinks he may… More The great Ernst Lubitsch directed this farce (written by Charles M. Brackett and Billy Wilder) about a free-wheeling millionaire, Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper), who enjoys getting married but has a hard time staying married: he's had seven wives and is looking for number eight. He thinks he may have found her in the person of Nicole de Loiselle (Claudette Colbert), whom he meets in a shop on the French Riviera. Unfortunately for Michael, Nicole doesn't like him very much and keeps rebuffing his advances, even though most women would be only too happy to marry him for his money. For just that reason, Nicole's father (Edward Everett Horton), a financially embarrassed French nobleman, strongly suggests that matrimony with Michael would be a good idea, especially since Michael doesn't want to take no for an answer. Nicole eventually relents and weds Michael, but when she tries to get him to change a few of his habits during the honeymoon, he makes plans to divorce her. But Nicole has finally decided that she loves Michael after all, and, as he tries to flee from her, she gives chase, determined to win his heart once and for all. The same story was previously filmed as a silent picture in 1923. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Ernst Lubitsch
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Mar 25, 1938 Wide
- On DVD
- Mar 28, 1995
Critic Reviews
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, Time Out
A sporadically funny, somewhat contrived comedy.
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Frank S. Nugent, New York Times
Although it's not a bad comedy by our current depressed standards, it has the dickens of a time trying to pass off Gary Cooper as a multi-marrying millionaire.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Ernst Lubitsch seems to be resting on his cliches in this atypically inelegant 1938 comedy.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The text (also done as silent), co-scripted by Billy Wilder, seems ideal for the Lubitsch touch, and yet the tone is incongruous and overall the film is disappointing.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Lubitsch's classicism gets continually cracked by the unruliness of the screwball genre and by the caustic thrust of the Billy Wilder-Charles Brackett screenplay
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Cast
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Claudette Colbert
as Nicole de Loiselle
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Gary Cooper
as Michael Brandon
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Edward Everett Horton
as Marquis de Loiselle
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David Niven
as Albert De Regnier
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Elizabeth Patterson
as Aunt Hedwige
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Franklin Pangborn
as Asst. Hotel Manager
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Herman Bing
as Monsieur Pepinard
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Rolfe Sedan
as Floorwalker
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Lawrence Grant
as Prof. Urganzeff
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Lionel Pape
as Monsieur Potin
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Tyler Brooke
as Clerk
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Tom Ricketts
as Uncle Andre
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Barlowe Borland
as Uncle Fernandel
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Charles Halton
as Monsieur de la Coste
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Leon Ames
as Ex-Chauffeur
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Hooper Atchley
as Excited passenger
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Paul Bryar
as Radio announcer
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Gino Corrado
as Waiter Who Carries
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Armand Cortes
as Asst. Hotel Manager
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Joseph Crehan
as American tourist
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Sheila Darcy
as Maid
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Ellen Drew
as Secretary
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Pauline Garon
as Customer
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Grace Goodall
as Nurse
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Warren Hymer
as Kid Mulligan
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Olaf Hytten
as Valet
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Gwen Kenyon
as Bit part
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Alphonse Martell
as Hotel Employee
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Joyce Mathews
as Bit part
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Harold Minjir
as Photographer
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Carol Parker
as Bit part
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Ruth Rogers
as Bit part
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Dorothy White
as Bit part
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Sacha Guitry
as Extra
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Albert D'Arno
as Newsboy
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Paula DeCardo
as Bit part
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Norah Gale
as Bit part
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John Picorri
as Conductor
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Gloria Williams
as Bit part
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Dorothy Dayton
as Bit part
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Ray DeRavenne
as Package Clerk
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Harriette Haddon
as Bit part
