Generations later, Edward Everett Horton would become best known to millions of children as the droll, unmistakable narrator of “Fractured Fairy Tales” on Rocky and Bullwinkle — a soft-spoken character-actor legacy built almost entirely on supporting roles across a decades-long career. Lonely Wives is the rare exception: a genuine starring vehicle, made in 1931 while Horton was still primarily a stage actor, that gives him not one leading role but two. He plays both a respectable, philandering defense attorney and the vaudeville impersonator hired to double for him — sharing the screen with himself through some genuinely smooth double-exposure effects that one contemporary reviewer found impressive enough to comment on directly.
The film is a fairly shameless pre-Code sex farce, adapted from a German vaudeville sketch by way of a Broadway stage flop that never actually made it to Broadway, and its reputation today rests almost entirely on the novelty of watching two Hortons flirt, scheme, and eventually chase each other around with a loaded gun. Contemporary critic Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times praised the picture warmly while pointedly noting its “reprehensible innuendoes” — a review that captures exactly the kind of naughty, unbothered spirit pre-Code Hollywood specialized in before the Production Code shut that door in 1934. It’s in the public domain, and you can watch it free right now.
Lonely Wives 1931 — Movie Overview Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Lonely Wives |
| Release Year | 1931 |
| Country | United States |
| Runtime | 85 minutes |
| Genre | Comedy, Pre-Code Sex Farce, Romance |
| Language | English |
| Format | Black & White |
| Director | Russell Mack |
| Screenplay | Walter DeLeon |
| Based On | Tanzanwaltz, a German vaudeville act by Pordes Milo, Walter Schütt, and Dr. Eric Urban; English stage adaptation by Walter DeLeon and Mark Swan |
| Producer | E.B. Derr |
| Production Company | Pathé Exchange |
| Distributor | RKO Pictures (acquired Pathé in January 1931) |
| Notable Technical Detail | Uses double-exposure/split-screen effects to show Horton’s two characters together on screen |
| Home Video | Released on DVD by Roan/Troma Entertainment in 2001 |
| IMDb Rating | 6.2/10 |
| Public Domain | Yes — freely available to watch and download |
Full Cast Table — Lonely Wives (1931)
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Edward Everett Horton | Richard “Dickie” Smith / Felix, The Great Zero |
| Esther Ralston | Madeline Smith |
| Laura La Plante | Diane O’Dare |
| Patsy Ruth Miller | Kitty “Minty” Minter |
| Spencer Charters | Andrews, the Butler |
| Maude Eburne | Mrs. Mantel |
| Maurice Black | Taxi Driver |
Edward Everett Horton — A Rare Leading-Man Turn From Hollywood’s Favorite Character Actor
Edward Everett Horton spent the bulk of his long career as a supporting player — a fussy, nervous, endlessly reliable character actor who enlivened dozens of films across Hollywood’s Golden Age, later becoming beloved to an entirely new generation as the narrator of “Fractured Fairy Tales” on Rocky and Bullwinkle. Lonely Wives stands out precisely because it’s the rare case of Horton anchoring a picture as its actual leading man, in a genuine dual role that lets him carry the entire film’s romantic and comic engine himself.
Reviewers have been honest about the fit not being perfect. One retrospective assessment noted candidly that “Horton is miscast” as a conventional romantic lead — it’s genuinely difficult, as another review put it, to think of the nervous, fussy Horton as a credible object of desire for three separate leading ladies — but nearly every review agrees that his considerable personal charm, plus the sheer novelty of watching two Hortons scheme against each other, more than compensates. One IMDb reviewer was specifically impressed by the technical execution behind the illusion, noting “the smooth special effects when both Richard and Felix appear onscreen at the same time,” achieved through careful double exposure with impeccably timed conversational cues between the two performances.
A German Vaudeville Sketch, a Broadway Flop, and Julian Eltinge
The film’s source material has a genuinely tangled history. It began as Tanzanwaltz, a German vaudeville act written by Pordes Milo, Walter Schütt, and Dr. Eric Urban, before being translated for the American stage by Walter DeLeon and Mark Swan under the English title Lonely Wives. Producer A.H. Woods staged that English version in Stamford, Connecticut on August 11, 1922, with a New York opening planned for later that month — starring Julian Eltinge, one of the most famous female impersonators of the era.
The Broadway run never actually happened. According to Turner Classic Movies, the production was scrapped, apparently because, while genuinely funny, the play “had no value or integrity” — a fairly blunt verdict for material that would nonetheless be resurrected nearly a decade later as a Hollywood picture. Pathé Exchange produced the 1931 film adaptation, only to be absorbed by RKO Pictures when RKO purchased Pathé in January of that same year, meaning the finished film was ultimately released and distributed under a studio banner different from the one that had greenlit it.
Full Plot Summary — Lonely Wives (1931)
Richard “Dickie” Smith (Edward Everett Horton) is a respectable, successful defense attorney by day and, once the clock strikes 8 o’clock, a committed philanderer. His wife, Madeline (Esther Ralston), has been away for several months with no imminent return expected, and Madeline’s mother, Mrs. Mantel (Maude Eburne), has moved in specifically to keep an eye on Richard’s wandering tendencies in her daughter’s absence.
The Impersonator’s Bargain
Richard has plans that evening to take out both his flirtatious new secretary, Kitty Minter (Patsy Ruth Miller), and his glamorous new client, Diane O’Dare (Laura La Plante) — a lonely wife herself, seeking a divorce from her husband on grounds of neglect. His problem is logistical: how to slip out for a night on the town without alerting his ever-watchful mother-in-law. The solution arrives conveniently at his door in the form of Felix, the Great Zero (also Edward Everett Horton), a vaudeville impersonator seeking permission to add Richard to his act. Noticing their striking resemblance, Richard strikes a deal: Felix can impersonate him professionally if he’ll first impersonate him at home that very evening, covering for Richard while he goes out.
A Surprising Discovery and an Early Return
Out on the town, Richard discovers a startling coincidence: Diane’s neglectful husband, whom she’s asking him to help her divorce, is none other than Felix himself. Meanwhile, back at the house, Madeline arrives home early and unannounced — and Felix, believing his impersonation is about to be exposed, scrambles to phone the nightclub where Richard has taken the two women. While he waits anxiously for the callback, Madeline, unaware she’s speaking to an impersonator rather than her actual husband, begins coming on to him. Felix tries to resist, attempting to stall until he can reach Richard, but ultimately gives in to her advances just as the phone finally rings.
Mistaken Infidelity and a Chase With a Gun
Richard returns home the next morning to find Felix still there, closely followed by a thoroughly inebriated Diane, with whom Felix appears to have spent the night away from home. When Felix recognizes Diane and Richard realizes Felix spent the night at his own house, both men jump to the same mistaken conclusion: that the other has slept with his wife. What follows is a farcical chase sequence, with an armed Richard pursuing Felix through the house — while the household butler, Andrews (Spencer Charters), thoroughly drunk, becomes convinced he’s suffering delirium tremens from seeing his employer apparently doubled.
The Truth and a Tidy Resolution
The truth eventually sorts itself out: Madeline admits she knew all along it wasn’t actually Richard, and that beyond some kissing, nothing further happened between herself and Felix. Diane, for her part, reveals she spent the entire night simply riding around in a cab rather than with Richard at all. With misunderstandings cleared up, Richard is reformed of his wandering ways and reconciled with Madeline, while Felix and Diane are reunited as husband and wife — a tidy, farce-typical ending that resolves every mistaken-identity thread the plot spent 85 minutes tangling.
A Genuinely Loaded Pre-Code Cast — Three Silent-Era Leading Ladies
One reviewer noted a detail worth flagging for classic film enthusiasts specifically: Lonely Wives co-stars three former top leading ladies of the silent era — Laura La Plante, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Esther Ralston — all transitioning into talkies at roughly the same moment, and all getting genuine comic material to work with here rather than simple decoration. One assessment amusingly observed that La Plante and Ralston, playing the film’s two competing wives, “look a bit alike — almost as if men who look alike crave the same kind of woman,” a small, funny bit of visual symmetry that seems entirely intentional given the film’s dual-Horton premise.
Maude Eburne, playing the scheming, boisterous mother-in-law Mrs. Mantel, earns particular praise across multiple reviews — one retrospective called her “an underappreciated actress with considerable comic skills” who holds her own against either Horton with ease, and credits her with delivering the film’s single funniest closing line.
Where to Watch Lonely Wives (1931) Free Online
Lonely Wives is in the public domain and legally available across multiple platforms at no cost.
| Platform | Format | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Internet Archive | Stream + Download (multiple formats) | Free |
| YouTube | Stream | Free |
| Amazon Prime Video | Stream | Free with Prime / SVOD |
Lonely Wives (1931) on Internet Archive:
Is Lonely Wives (1931) in the Public Domain?
Yes. Lonely Wives entered the public domain in the United States in 1959, after the copyright claimants failed to renew the registration in the film’s required 28th year following publication. You can legally stream, download, share, and screen it without restriction or cost.
Critical Reception — Then and Now
The film holds a 6.2 out of 10 on IMDb, and its reputation has remained remarkably consistent from its 1931 release through modern reassessment: genuinely funny, unmistakably contrived, and worth watching almost entirely for Horton’s dual performance. Mordaunt Hall’s original New York Times review called the direction “skillful” and praised Horton specifically for delivering “a wonderfully clever dual impersonation” that was “wonderfully amusing,” while singling out Esther Ralston, Maude Eburne, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Spencer Charters for their supporting performances — though Hall also cautioned that the story contained “quite a number of reprehensible innuendoes,” a pointed acknowledgment of exactly how far pre-Code Hollywood was willing to push its content.
Modern reviewers have echoed both halves of that assessment. One retrospective bluntly summarized that enjoyment of the film “will depend on your tolerance for farce,” while another conceded the script has “deep flaws” and that Horton himself is somewhat miscast as a romantic lead, yet still recommended the picture on the strength of its central novelty — concluding that any film ending with “Edward Everett Horton chasing Edward Everett Horton around with a gun is probably worth seeing at least once.”
Frequently Asked Questions — Lonely Wives 1931
Q: What is Lonely Wives (1947) about?
A respectable defense attorney, Richard Smith (Edward Everett Horton), hires a vaudeville impersonator who looks just like him to cover for him at home so he can spend an evening with two other women. Chaos ensues when his wife returns home early and mistakes the impersonator for her husband, leading to a farcical chain of mistaken identities and a final chase involving a loaded gun.
Q: Is Lonely Wives (1931) in the public domain?
Yes. Lonely Wives entered the public domain in the United States in 1959 after its copyright was not renewed, and it is freely available on the Internet Archive, YouTube, and other public domain film platforms.
Q: Does Edward Everett Horton play two roles in Lonely Wives?
Yes. Horton plays both Richard ‘Dickie’ Smith, the philandering lawyer, and Felix, the Great Zero, the vaudeville impersonator hired to double for him, appearing on screen together through double-exposure effects.
Q: Is Lonely Wives based on a play?
Yes. The film is based on Tanzanwaltz, a German vaudeville act, which was translated into English as Lonely Wives for a planned Broadway production starring female impersonator Julian Eltinge in 1922 — though that stage production was ultimately never performed.
Q: Is Lonely Wives a pre-Code film?
Yes. Lonely Wives was released in 1931, before Hollywood began strictly enforcing the Production Code in 1934, and features frank sexual innuendo typical of pre-Code comedy.
Q: Who directed Lonely Wives?
Russell Mack directed the film for Pathé Exchange, which was acquired by RKO Pictures in January 1931, meaning the finished film was ultimately distributed under the RKO banner.
Q: How long is Lonely Wives?
The film runs approximately 85 minutes.
Q: What did critics say about Lonely Wives?
Contemporary New York Times critic Mordaunt Hall praised Horton’s ‘wonderfully clever dual impersonation’ while noting the story’s risqué content. Modern reviewers generally agree the film’s script is contrived and formulaic, but recommend it for the novelty of Horton’s dual performance.
Q: Where can I watch Lonely Wives (1931) for free?
Lonely Wives is freely available on the Internet Archive and YouTube, and can also be streamed through Amazon Prime Video. All public domain versions are legal to stream and download.
Related Free Classic Pre-Code Comedies
If Lonely Wives (1931) drew you into pre-Code Hollywood’s freewheeling farces or Edward Everett Horton’s larger body of work, these are the natural titles to explore next:
- His Double Life (1933) Full Movie Review, Plot, Cast & Free Comedy-Drama Classic
- The Perils of Pauline (1947) Full Movie Review, Plot, Cast & Free Betty Hutton Musical-Comedy Classic
- Long Shot, The (1939) Full Movie Review, Plot, Cast & Free Horse Racing Drama Classic
- Public Domain Movies List – All Free Classic Films (Complete Guide)
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