Holy Matrimony

Holy Matrimony – when reclusive artist (Monty Woolley) returns to England to be knighted, his valet (Eric Blore) dies. So he decides to swap identities as a prank. But then …

Holy Matrimony (1943) starring Monty Woolley, Gracie Fields

Product Description 

SYNOPSIS: A man trying to leave his fame behind discovers the perils of choosing to be the wrong unknown person in this farcical British comedy. Priam Farli (Monty Woolley) is an eccentric but famous and well-respected artist who prefers to work in total seclusion — so much so that he’s spent the last 20 years creating his paintings while living on an isolated island in the Pacific, with only his valet, Henry Leek (Eric Blore), for company. When word reaches Farli that he is to be knighted by King Edward VII (Edwin Maxwell), the artist reluctantly sails back to Great Britain with Leek, but en route, his devoted servant dies. Seeing a perfect opportunity to once again escape the public eye, Farli poses as Leek and claims that the great painter was the one who passed away.

Farli is not allowed to attend his own funeral, but things get more complicated when Alice Challice (Gracie Fields) appears with a letter in which Leek proposes marriage to her. Wanting to maintain his cover, Farli goes through with the wedding, only to find that Leek was already married, and his first wife (Una O’Connor) would like some explanations as to why her Henry has taken another wife, not to mention wondering where he’s been for the past two decades. Laird Cregar, Alan Mowbray, and Fritz Feld highlight the supporting cast.

Cast of characters

• Monty Woolley (The Bishop’s Wife, The Man Who Came to Dinner) … Priam Farll
• Gracie Fields (Look Up and Laugh) … Alice Chalice
• Laird Cregar (Heaven Can Wait) … Clive Oxford
• Una O’Connor (Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man) … Sarah Leek
• Alan Mowbray (Merrily We Live, Panama Hattie) … Mr. Pennington
• Melville Cooper (Rebecca) … Dr. Caswell
• Franklin Pangborn (Reveille with Beverly, The Bank Dick) … Duncan Farll
• Ethel Griffies (Werewolf of London, Stranger on the Third Floor) … Lady Vale
• Eric Blore (The Gay Divorcee, Romance on the High Seas) … Henry Leek
• George Zucco (The Mummy’s Ghost, The Mad Ghoul) … Mr. Crepitude
• Fritz Feld (Bringing Up Baby) … Critic

Additional Cast

• William Austin (The Return of the Vampire) … Critic
• Billy Bevan (Dracula’s Daughter, Hoboken to Hollywood) … Cabby
• Whit Bissell (I Was a Teenage Werewolf) … Harry Leek
• Matthew Boulton (Sherlock Holmes: The Woman In Green) … Sergeant
• Bess Flowers (Springtime in the Rockies) … Mourner
• Charlie Hall (They Go Boom!) … Townsman
• Ian Wolfe (Witness for the Prosecution) … Strawley