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.

Plot

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 will let him go.

When Maida shows up and tries to see Alec, Julie blocks her. With no one else in the room, Maida freely admits she gave up the man she really loved for Alec's position and his father's wealth. However, Alec's parents enter behind her and overhear her cold-blooded admission. Maida's plotting exposed, the path to Alec and Julie's happiness is now clear.

Cast

Carole Lombard as Julie Eden
Cary Grant as Alec Walker
Kay Francis as Maida Walker
Charles Coburn as Richard Walker
Helen Vinson as Suzanne Ducross, Maida's "best" friend, who makes a play for Alec herself
Katherine Alexander as Laura Morton, Julie's sister, embittered against men by her own unhappy experience
Jonathan Hale as Dr. Ned Gateson, a friend of the Walker family
Nella Walker as Grace Walker
Alan Baxter as Charley
Maurice Moscovitch as Dr. Muller
Peggy Ann Garner as Ellen Eden, Julie's daughter

According to Robert Osborne, the film was intended to reteam Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. However, the disastrous reception of Bringing Up Baby led to Hepburn being considered "box office poison" and Lombard being cast instead.

Translation of "In Name Only"

German: Nur dem Namen nach, French: L'Autre (film, 1939), Swedish: Hjärter är trumf.