I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Best movie ever!

Beautiful, moving film.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Four Wives is the first sequel in the saga of the musical Lemp family that Warner Brothers brought to us in Four Daughters. This family film about widower Claude Rains and his four musical and unmarried daughters struck a nice note with the movie going public in 1938 and John Garfield in his screen debut earned himself a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Garfield is back here, but only in flashback to the original film.The main plot line involves Priscilla Lane who ran off with Garfield leaving Jeffrey Lynn at the altar and in a lurch. Garfield still comes between them and he's left a permanent reminder of his brief marraige to Lane.The others also having their early marital adjustments, Lola Lane to banker Frank McHugh, Gale Page to Dick Foran and Rosemary Lane still unattached to Priscilla's pediatrician Eddie Albert. Albert seems to fit right in with the general harmony of the group.One thing with the Lemps they seem to do everything together from playing classical music with their music teacher dad to having babies. The only question left unanswered is will Claude Rains ever have a grandson in this girl's town he's started.Four Wives is a worthy film, a fine sequel to Four Daughters and Warner Brothers wasn't through with the Lemp family yet as soon enough out came Four Mothers.

An air of melancholy runs through FOUR WIVES because Priscilla Lane is still haunted by the memory of her dead husband (John Garfield, seen briefly in a cameo role), while engaged to Jeffrey Lynn who doesn't know she's carrying Garfield's child.But through all the dramatic twists and turns, the family unit remains strong, supportive and determined to move in the direction of a happy ending for all. Frank McHugh is on hand for some levity, Rosemary Lane makes a very beautiful Kay, Claude Rains is the musician father, and Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn carry the romantic leads in a pleasant enough manner. Lynn even gets to conduct Max Steiner's stirring "Symphonie Moderne" which wraps up the story with musical finesse.I actually found Rosemary Lane to be the most natural beauty of the Lane sisters and her acting here is more than competent. But the Warners evidently groomed Priscilla Lane for stardom instead. She gets all the best close-ups, including her hospital scene listening to the radio concert with tearful pride.It's enjoyable enough without being really special. Julius J. Epstein has written a graceful script and the Steiner score is a gem. Director Michael Curtiz keeps the camera flowing smoothly through many a detailed scene.

I like this family overall. It's a rich blend of some vital elements. In this particular series, as with others, the savor seems to diminish a little as it goes along. But, with that, the core group is always there and I find it a winner. The first is the best, this one weakens with script, and the last one has a real problem script-wise. While some are impressed with the portrayal of Ann as the disturbed widow and reluctant fiancé, I find that a rewrite of history from the initial film. I wanted Ann to throw that junk off and get with it. Jeffrey Lynn's character should have gotten a purple heart for long suffering in this one. It's a reversal of what they had going. In the first film, Ann was realistic as the overly sympathetic young woman who went so far as to marry a guy who needed her, when the one she really loved was seemingly not available to her. Okay, all that got fixed and fixed well. This film seems to moot the turnaround, and we find her more focused on her unsatisfactory dead husband and pushing away the true love who is readily available to her now. Yes, she does find she is carrying the first husband's child, and becomes emotionally vulnerable in her memory of him. That can happen, but it just wore on me. However, I still valued the film because of the winning ensemble and overall premise.

On the strength of an outstanding performance by Priscilla Lane, Four Wives succeeds as a sequel to the popular Four Daughters.Priscilla Lane gives a performance that any of the more acclaimed actresses of her time would be hard-pressed to match. She does an outstanding job of portraying a woman whose life has been completely turned upside down. How she reconciles the past, which keeps intruding on the present, will determine how well she handles the future.There is an examination of certain issues in this movie, grief, guilt, depression, and loyalty, for example, that goes a bit deeper than one might expect at first glance. At the core of Four Wives, however, is the stunningly beautiful Priscilla Lane, whose beauty is at least the equal to any of Hollywood's actresses of that era, or any era.As for the rest of the cast, Jeffrey Lynn does a nice job opposite Miss Lane, and Eddie Albert and Claude Rains both do a fine job in support. And, lest I forget, Priscilla's real life sisters Rosemary and Lola, and the "fourth" Lane sister Gale Page.After the next sequel, Four Mothers, it's too bad they didn't make one more movie to finish the series. Four Sisters has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?