No one associates Alfred Hitchcock with screwball comedy. Nonetheless, he dabbled with that genre via 1941’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Ann (Carole Lombard) and David Smith (Robert Montgomery) wed three years ago – or so they think. They learn that a legal technicality means they never actually got married.

This leads to conflict because of a confession David makes. Though a happy couple prior to this revelation, the news sends the Smiths on a rocky course that could end their relationship.

Boy, that synopsis makes Smith sound a lot more like a serious character drama ala 2019’s Marriage Story than a laugh-filled tale, doesn’t it? Actually, despite the “screwball” designation, Smith doesn’t turn into much of a madcap romp.

Indeed, the film leans more dramatic than I’d expect from a film the Blu-ray’s insert describes as a “breezy comedy”. While the movie attempts humor, it never achieves the looseness that “breezy” implies.

Honestly, not much about Smith succeeds in terms of its attempted hilarity. Some mild amusement results, but the movie’s semi-pronounced lean toward drama means it never generates much in terms of guffaws.

The film does push more toward wackiness as it goes, mainly in the antics Ann and David go through when they try to make each other jealous. Hitchcock eventually starts to realize he’s supposed to produce a comedy so he crams in various gags.

These don’t really work. Smith follows predictable lines and fails to find much cleverness or amusement.

Lombard and Montgomery don’t help matters, mainly because they show little chemistry. In particular, Montgomery feels miscast and seems out of place in this sort of tale.

Though Hitchcock could pull off black comedy, screwball appeared outside of his scope. Smith never flops but it also never becomes better than mediocre.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a fairly good presentation for an 83-year-old film.

Sharpness became the only minor issue, as occasional shots appeared a bit on the soft side. Nonetheless, most of the film displayed positive delineation.

I saw no signs of jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes didn’t appear. In terms of print flaws, I saw nothing prominent.

With a nice layer of grain, I suspected no digital reduction. Blacks looked deep and dark, while shadows seemed smooth and clear, and the image boasted satisfying contrast. Outside of the smattering of soft shots, I felt pleased with this scan.

Unfortunately, the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack didn’t hold as well. Though not bad given its vintage, the mix nonetheless came with inconsistencies.

The main issue stemmed from distortion, as the track could feel rough. Dialogue remained easily intelligible, but the lines often came across as somewhat edgy.

Music leaned shrill, while effects offered similar mild but persistent concerns. Though not a poor track for something from 1941, the audio still felt weaker than expected.

A smattering of extras appear on the disc, and a featurette called Mr. Hitchcock Meets the Smiths runs 16 minutes, six seconds. It brings remarks from filmmakers Richard Franklin and Peter Bogdanovich, film historians Robert Osborne and Richard Schickel, and Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter Pat and granddaughter Mary Stone.

“Meets” covers the project’s origins, story/characters and Hitchcock’s approach to the material, cast and performances, and general thoughts about the film. While we get a few insights about the production, “Meets” feels more like an appreciation than an informative behind the scenes piece.

Under Classic Cartoons, we find two circa 1941 shorts: Holiday Highlights (7:35) and Stage Fright (7:23).

Highlights offers brief comedic takes on a mix of occasions across a calendar year. Fright focuses on two dogs who compete to get a bone and face off against a stubborn little bird.

Nothing special arrives via Highlights, but it offers decent amusement. The dialogue-free Fright shows more cleverness and also features an apparent precursor to Henery Hawk via the tough bird we meet.

Another short called Cinderella’s Feller lasts 19 minutes, 34 seconds. A live-action piece, it offers an adaptation of Cinderella in which pre-teen kids play Cindy and many of the leads.

Via 2024 eyes, this seems a bit creepy, but audiences didn’t view material of this sort the same way 80-plus years ago. Even without the potential “ick factor”, Feller doesn’t work, as it suffers from poor acting and a major cheese factor.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we wrap with two radio broadcasts. We find adaptations of Smith from Lux Radio Theater (6/9/1941, 59:46) and Screen Guild Players (12/14/1942, 29:34).

Lux brings back Carole Lombard as Mrs. Smith but casts Bob Hope as Mr. Smith. Guild uses Lana Turner and Errol Flynn as the leads.

Of the two, Lux sticks closer to the events of the film, which doesn’t come as a surprise. With twice as much time at its disposal, it becomes inevitable it will provide more of the source.

That said, with Hope in tow, Lux clearly emphasizes one-liners and comedy more than the movie does. It comes with scads of jokes not found in the film, most so Hope can toss out zingers.

Which actually works pretty well. Hope offers a much more natural comedic talent than Montgomery does, so this becomes a good adaptation.

Guild takes many liberties, and not just because it cuts out so much content. We lose major plot points, like the declaration David makes that acts as a significant reason for the couple’s rift.

Guild mainly depicts the movie’s love triangle and loses almost everything else. It seems like an iffy version of the story, and neither Flynn nor Turner deliver the comedy especially well.

Alfred Hitchcock didn’t often dabble in overt comedy, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith implies this was a good thing. While not a bad film, it just doesn’t show the spark and spunk it needs to deliver the witty romp it wants to be. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture, iffy audio and a mix of bonus materials. Smith becomes a less than successful genre deviation from Hitchcock.