Critical Reception and Legacy
Nunnally Johnson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), but lost the Oscar to Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein, and Howard Koch for Casablanca.
Holy Matrimony won nearly universal praise. Bosley Crowther, writing in The New York Times, called it "a most delightful union between and Gracie Fields", and said it was "a charming picture which is full of sly humor. And John Stahl has directed it with understanding of its smooth wit and satire." He also had strong praise for actors Cregar, O'Connor, Mowbray, and Pangborn. More recent appraisals have also been very positive. Film historian Tony Thomas wrote, "The humor of Holy Matrimony stems not only from the grand performance of Monty Woolley, but also from the offbeat casting of Gracie Fields as the warmhearted wife. ... a perfect vehicle for an actor whom nature had already typecast as a crusty highbrow." Geoffrey McNab, a British film critic, called it "brillantly scripted" in 2000. Historian of LGBT culture Eric Braun said Holy Matrimony was the "most charming yet low-key comedy" of Woolley's career. Film historian Peter Cowie praised Laird Cregar's "distinguished performance ... as the effeminate art dealer Clive Oxford".
The film was so successful that Woolley and Fields were reunited again two years later in motion picture Molly and Me.
The film also spawned a literary legacy. According to Gore Vidal, a subplot in Dawn Powell's novel The Wicked Pavilion is lifted directly from Holy Matrimony. In 1964, the Theater Guild (an organization that commissioned plays for production off-Broadway) turned the screenplay into a musical Darling of the Day. So many changes were made to the play, however, that Johnson demanded that his name be removed from it.
Read more about this topic: Holy Matrimony (1943 Film)
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