Dear Wife is a 1949 comedy film starring Joan Caulfield and William Holden. It is the sequel to Dear Ruth, which was based on the Broadway play of the same name by Norman Krasna. Plot Miriam Wilkins is a teenage girl who is campaigning for her brother-in-law Bill Seacroft to be elected to the state senate, but without his knowledge. Bill is a middle-aged war veteran who works at a bank and is frustrated by having to live with his wife Ruth's family. Bill wants to be more independent and stand on his own two feet. Ruth's father, Judge Harry Wilkins, has already been nominated for state senator. The Wilkins family is shock to learn that Bill will run against him in the election. Harry comes to terms with the situation, believing his chances of winning considerable, but is upset when Miriam calls him a political "fathead" in a local newspaper article. As the two campaigns begin, Ruth becomes jealous of Tommy Murphy, Bill's beautiful female campaign manager. Harry hires Albert Krummer, Ruth's former fiancé and Bill's current boss, as his campaign manager. The conflict between the two camps deepens. Albert, still in love with Ruth, seeks to inflame the rising conflict between Ruth and Bill. Bill begins to take his campaign seriously and publicly airs his views on Harry's policy concerning a new local airport. Bill states that the airport would force many city residents out of their homes. Miriam uses her influence as secretary of the Civic Betterment Committee to arrange a live radio broadcast in support of Bill's campaign. The broadcast is a complete disaster and throws everyone into conflict. By the end of the broadcast, Bill and Ruth have separated because she stubbornly refuses to join him and move out of the family house. Harry disapproves of the separation, and he later informs Bill of a duplex that Ruth is showing in her new job as a real-estate agent. Taking his father-in-law's advice, Bill rents the duplex, which is located in another district. He and Ruth almost reunite, but she refuses to move in with him because she is still too jealous of Bill's campaign manager Tommy. Bill's relationship with Tommy is strictly business, but she admits to Bill that she has fallen for him. He rejects her advances, but it is too late. Ruth accepts a new job in Chicago and plans to move there.