The Farmer's Wife

The Farmer's Wife is a 1941 British comedy drama film directed by Norman Lee and Leslie Arliss and starring Basil Sydney, Wilfrid Lawson and Nora Swinburne.[1] It is based on the play The Farmer's Wife by Eden Phillpotts which had previously been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock for a 1928 film of the same name.[2][3] It was produced by ABPC at Welwyn Studios, at a time when the company's main Elstree Studios had been requisitioned for wartime use. The film is not widely known.[4]

Farmer Samuel Sweetland, a widower with two daughters, buys a large neighbouring farm that he has coveted all his life. Now convinced that he needs to remarry, he draws up a list of three possible candidates with the assistance of his housekeeper Araminta Grey. They are Louisa Windeatt, a wealthy and spirited fox-hunting widow; Thirza Tapper, a prim unmarried lady who owns a nearby cottage; and Mary Hearne, an attractive barmaid from London.

Meanwhile, Sweetland's daughters, the forceful, coquettish Petronell and the shyer Sibley, have their own romantic entanglements with the young men of the area. Petronell tips her hat at Richard Coaker, only to discover that he is in love with her younger sister, and she finds eventual comfort in the arms of another suitor, George. Sweetland's own courtships go badly as each of the women reject his offer of marriage. Dejected, it is only then that he realises it his faithful housekeeper Araminta whom he really loves.