By Gerry Waggett 
Mr. & Mrs. Smith – 1941 – dir. Alfred Hitchcock
The 1941 screwball comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith should not be mistaken as the original version of the 2005 Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt action comedy. The premise of the 2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith – a husband and wife hiding from each other their secret careers as paid assassins – actually sounds closer to the sort of film audiences have come to expect from suspense master Alfred Hitchcock. The big secret in the 1941 Mr. & Mrs. Smith? The titular couple (played by Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard) discover that their marriage was never legal. It’s a twist on the comedy of remarriage genre popular during the 30s and 40s, but not exactly what we think of when we hear the term “Hitchcockian twist.”