Wives and Lovers (film)

Wives and Lovers is a 1963 comedy film based upon the play, The First Wife, by Jay Presson Allen. Directed by John Rich, it stars Janet Leigh, Van Johnson, Shelley Winters, and Martha Hyer. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1964 for costume design.

Plot
Husband and wife Bill and Bertie Austin and their daughter live in a low-rent apartment. He is a struggling writer, at least until agent Lucinda Ford breaks the news that she has sold his book to a publisher, including the rights to turn it into a Broadway play.

A new house in Connecticut is the first way to celebrate. When Bill is away working on the play, Bertie befriends hard-drinking neighbor Fran Cabrell and her boyfriend Wylie, who plant seeds of suspicion in Bertie's mind that Bill and his beautiful agent might be more than just business partners.

Bertie jealously retaliates by flirting with Gar Aldrich, an actor who will be in her husband's play. Bill goes to Connecticut for a heart-to-heart talk, finds Gar there, and punches him. But when the play is a success, Bill and Bertie decide to give married life one more try.

Cast
Janet Leigh as Bertie Austin
Van Johnson as Bill Austin
Shelley Winters as Fran Cabrell
Martha Hyer as Lucinda Ford
Ray Walston as Wylie Dreberg
Jeremy Slate as Gar Aldrich

References

External links
 

Category:1963 films
Category:1960s comedy films
Category:American films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American comedy films
Category:Directorial debut films
Category:English-language films
Category:Films about infidelity
Category:Films about writers
Category:Films about suburbia
Category:American films based on plays
Category:Films directed by John Rich
Category:Films produced by Hal B. Wallis
Category:Films set in Connecticut
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Films with screenplays by Edward Anhalt