For Mary and all the other silent-film aficionados out there, we return triumphantly to 1920 this week! Cecil B. DeMille's tremendously entertaining "Why Change Your Wife?" is one of a slew of romantic comedies he made around this time, following close on the heels of "Don't Change Your Husband," his first pairing with a little leading lady named Gloria Swanson. She went on from "Wife" to star in DeMille's "Male and Female," "For Better, For Worse," "The Affairs of Anatol" and more, and you can see why — she's absolutely radiant in this film. Even when her character's being a pill, you can't help but sympathize with her.
Swanson plays Beth, the staid and fussy wife of Robert Gordon (Thomas Meighan). Their honeymoon is clearly over: they annoy each other in the bathroom, bicker over the dog and just generally get on each other's nerves. Beth wants Robert to quit smoking and quit spending so much money on stupid stuff like wine. Robert wants Beth to wear negligees and snuggle with him while he listens to fox-trot records; she wants to listen to a more improving record titled "The Dying Poet." Heading out to escape the strife, Robert runs into an old acquaintance, the fetching lingerie model Sally (luminously pouty Bebe Daniels), who happens to adore wearing negligees and listening to fox-trot records. With alarming alacrity, Robert leaves Beth and marries Sally. Will their honeymoon last? What will happen when he discovers that Beth has made herself over and developed a new interest in negligees?
