New Year, New Movie: Unfaithfully Yours (1948)

*This is what I love about movies.*

That is what I was thinking when I came to the end of this film.

My resolution this year is to watch a new (to me) movie every day in 2021. Here are the films I had considered watching today that I've never seen before:

The General

Pandora's box

City Lights

Moonrise

The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry

Razzia sur la Chnouf

It's quite a mixed bag, though, isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to choose when one is fortunate enough to have such a range of movies available. Today, I finally settled on Unfaithfully Yours, a Preston Sturges film. I recently watched another film he wrote and directed, Christmas in July, with Dick Powell. Other films of his that I have enjoyed are A Palm Beach Story and Sullivan's Travels. The Lady Eve will be up next for consideration in what I am going to watch. If you need a good laugh that is deeply satisfying, then Preston Sturges is your man!

"There's nothing the matter with me that a couple of magnums of champagne won't cure."

The Gist

Alfred is a conductor with a beautiful wife. When he returns from a trip, he is led to believe his wife has been unfaithful to him. While conducting an orchestra, he imagines ways to respond to his wife's infidelity, but when he tries to enact them, he is not able to orchestrate them quite as successfully as he did in his imagination.

Memorable Moments

A happy couple.

A handsome assistant.

Things gone awry.

Buying a new dress.

Consulting with sister.

Unlimited access to bonbons.

Fixing a zipper.

Imagining the worst.

Revenge fantasy.

Unknowing adulterers.

Who can't relate?

A simple diagram.

Enacting the plot.

A happy couple again.

My Thoughts

This is a movie I look forward to watching again. Initially, I was not sure I was going to like this movie, but then it surprised me and I found myself enthralled and then laughing out loud. This is what I love about movies. It's hard not to appreciate a film that delivers something so unexpected. I loved the way the music he was conducting corresponded to his fantasies for dealing with his wife's presumed infidelity, and I appreciate the opportunity to laugh when I haven't felt much like laughing lately. This movie is good medicine.