How to Murder Your Wife
A pampered bachelor cartoonist finds his carefully ordered life overturned when an accidental marriage becomes a comic murder investigation.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Mild
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- witty
- irreverent
- breezy
- lazy sunday
- classic comedy night
What critics said
Critics generally found the premise and performances promising but judged the execution uneven, with dated and sometimes reductive marriage satire.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Stanley’s cherished bachelor routine is disrupted by an accidental marriage, while his cartoon and legal troubles expose anxieties about married life.
Stanley’s Bash Brannigan comic changes from a super-spy adventure to a harried-husband scenario as his own domestic life changes.
Stanley’s decision to kill off Bash’s wife in the cartoon is misunderstood by Mrs. Ford as a threat to her own life.
Stanley’s luxury townhouse, full-time valet, drinking routine, and carefully maintained bachelor lifestyle form the film’s central social setting.
Films like How to Murder Your Wife, and why
The Seven Year Itch
shared screwball marriage premise, escalating domestic misunderstandings, and buoyant mid-century comic tone
Some Like It Hot
shared jack lemmon-led farce, gender-role satire, and sophisticated romantic-comedy mechanics
The Apartment
shared 1960s sexual politics, bachelorhood comedy, and polished urban farce
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
shared marriage-centered social satire, comic miscommunication, and broad relationship humor
Movie Details
- Director
- Richard Quine
- Release Date
- 1965-01-26
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (156)
Cast
- Jack Lemmon
- Virna Lisi
- Terry-Thomas
- Eddie Mayehoff
- Claire Trevor
- Sidney Blackmer
- Max Showalter
- Jack Albertson
- Mary Wickes
- Alan Hewitt
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, YouTube TV, MGM Plus, ScreenPix Apple TV channel, ScreenPix Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is How to Murder Your Wife about?
- A pampered bachelor cartoonist finds his carefully ordered life overturned when an accidental marriage becomes a comic murder investigation.
- What is How to Murder Your Wife like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of How to Murder Your Wife as brisk, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is How to Murder Your Wife violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in How to Murder Your Wife.
- What did critics think of How to Murder Your Wife?
- Critics generally found the premise and performances promising but judged the execution uneven, with dated and sometimes reductive marriage satire.
- Which films are like How to Murder Your Wife?
- Films with a similar feel include The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and The Prisoner of Second Avenue.
- How long is How to Murder Your Wife?
- How to Murder Your Wife runs 118 minutes.
- Where can I watch How to Murder Your Wife?
- In United States, How to Murder Your Wife streams on fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, YouTube TV, MGM Plus, ScreenPix Apple TV channel, ScreenPix Amazon Channel .
