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My American Wife

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Original title

My American Wife

Year

1936

Running time

65 min.

Country

United States

Director

Harold Young

Screenwriter

Elmer Davis, Edith Fitzgerald, Virginia Van Upp

Cast

Music

Charles Bradshaw, Gerard Carbonara, Friedrich Hollaender, Victor Young

Cinematography

Harry Fischbeck (B&W)

Producer

Paramount Pictures

Genre

Comedy

Synopsis

Count Ferdinand von und zu Reidenach arrives in Smelter City, Arizona, with his American bride, Mary Cantillon. Mary's grandfather, Lafe Cantillon, founded the town and disapproves of Mary's marriage to a foreigner. Mary and her mother, however, are thrilled with the fact that Mary is now a countess, and they make the most of it via various social occasions. "Ferdie," however, is tired of high society and has dreams of becoming a "real" American by running his own ranch. He has a difficult time fitting in with the Cantillon family, who grudgingly give him a position at their bank, but provide him with no work to do. Ferdie's determination eventually wins Lafe over, and the two men become buddies, much to the disgust of the rest of the family, who find Lafe's rough, earthy manners intolerable. The final blow comes when Ferdie informs Mary he has begun building a ranch house for the two of them, and she refuses to live there. At a family meeting Ferdie announces that he is surrendering trusteeship of Mary's inheritance and is dissolving their marriage because he wants to be an American, but she only wants what her mother wants. Before Mary heads for Reno, she realizes she loves Ferdie, and that he protected her inheritance out of love for her, while the rest of the family lost their money in a bad stock investment. When she hears that a redhead named Helena is moving in with Ferdie, she becomes infuriated and drives out to the ranch, where she discovers that Helena is the valet Adolph's homely daughter. By this time, however, Mary has decided to "grow up" and return to her husband, who happily embraces her.

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User history

My American Wife

1936

Harold Young