In Name Only

In Name Only is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. It was based on the novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer. Prosperous Alec Walker (Cary Grant) puts up with a loveless marriage to Maida (Kay Francis) until he meets widow Julie Eden (Carole Lombard). They fall in love and he asks his wife for a divorce. She refuses; she married him solely for his social position and wealth and won't give them up. Though he ... more

In Name Only is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. It was based on the novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer. Prosperous Alec Walker (Cary Grant) puts up with a loveless marriage to Maida (Kay Francis) until he meets widow Julie Eden (Carole Lombard). They fall in love and he asks his wife for a divorce. She refuses; she married him solely for his social position and wealth and won't give them up. Though he knows it, she is such a skillful liar, she has his parents (Charles Coburn, Nella Walker) convinced that Julie is the fortune hunter, out to destroy the marriage. Julie breaks up with Alec since she cannot see any future with him. On Christmas Eve, a distraught Alec gets drunk, falls asleep in a hotel room in front of an open window, and catches pneumonia. At the hospital, Dr. Muller (Maurice Moscovitch) tells Julie and Alec's father that the patient is likely to recover if he has the will to live. Julie lies to Alec, telling him that Maida... less