My Life with Caroline (1941)

Abysmal Anna Lee and charmless Ronald Colman fail to summon enough vitality to get this sour screwball going from the outset in this laxly directed effort by Lewis Milestone. Lee is wide eyed gullible most of the way while Colman a smug understanding bore in this comedy romance that has neither.

Constantly on the road successful businessman Anthony Mason (Colman) has a wife with a wandering eye (Lee). Prone to falling in love while hubby is away a tolerant Mason employs an understanding that usually brings her back to earth and restores the marriage. This time it is a Latin lover but the nonchalant Mason seems far from threatened.

The limited Lee brings nothing but wide eyed confusion to the inane role of Caroline who seems to have the emotional maturity of a twelve year old. She seems committed to only her romantic delusions and completely out of touch with her fellow characters. Colman for his part looks distracted and uninvolved, his interplay with Lee patronizing more than intimate. The supporting cast offers none with a smarmy Reggie Gardner and a wheezing Charles Winninger unable to bring sly humor to surly character.