Are Husbands Necessary? is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Ray Milland and Betty Field. It follows the misadventures of a wacky wife and her sometimes exasperated, but loving, banker husband. The film's screenplay was adapted by the husband-and-wife writing team of Tess Slesinger and Frank Davis, from the novel Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage by Isabel Scott Rorick. This novel would later be a source for the related 1948 radio series My Favorite Husband starring Lucille Ball, which itself would evolve into the television series I Love Lucy. A one-hour Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film, featuring George Burns and Gracie Allen, aired February 15, 1943, on CBS Radio. Cast Ray Milland as George Cugat Betty Field as Mary Elizabeth Cugat Patricia Morison as Myra Ponsonby Eugene Pallette as Bunker Philip Terry as Cory Cartwright Richard Haydn as Chuck Charles Dingle as Duncan Atterbury Kathleen Lockhart as Laura Atterbury Leif Erickson as Bill Stone Cecil Kellaway as Dr. Buell Elizabeth Risdon as Mrs. Westwood Charlotte Wynters as Mrs. Finley References External links Are Husbands Necessary? review at The New York Times Are Husbands Necessary? at IMDb Are Husbands Necessary? at TCMDB 1942 films 1942 comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Norman Taurog Films scored by Robert Emmett Dolan Paramount Pictures films 1940s American films