Grade: B-
Synopsis: A woman (Kay Francis) refuses to give her husband (Cary Grant) a divorce so he can marry the woman (Carole Lombard) he loves.
In Name Only is an average melodrama buoyed by a great cast and excellent production values.
Carole Lombard makes this movie. She’s so damn charming that she wins over not only Cary Grant, but the entire audience as well. More than any other, her performance makes or breaks the film, and so it’s amazing that (according to the IMDB) she wasn’t the first choice for the part, which was originally slated for Katherine Hepburn.
Opposite her, Cary Grant gives one of the earliest performances of the suave, gentlemanly “Cary Grant” character he would later be known for. What little bit of the audience not won over by Lombard, would certainly fall to Grant.
The strong casting doesn’t stop at the leads. Kay Francis turns in a wonderfully subdued villainess in the form of Grant’s character’s ice-cold wife. In a part that could have easily been overplayed, Francis gives a wonderfully minimalist performance that’s both believable and entertaining. Also worth noting is the always entertaining Charles Coburn as Grant’s character’s father.
Director John Cromwell handles things deftly, adding several little touches such as the smoky haze in a bar visited by Cary Grant, which lend the film a sense of authenticity and help dilute the melodrama. Further, at only 94-minutes, In Name Only clocks in almost half an hour shorter than expected, a welcome surprise.
Bottom Line: An above-average melodrama thanks to a spectacular cast and good production values.
