Wife no. 13

7/10

In a slapstick, uncomplicated farce about marital relations -- or the lack of them -- this comedy from the United Arab Republic focuses on a clever young woman. Murad Salem (Rushdi Abaza) is a very rich man who gets what he wants when he wants it, usually. After he meets a beautiful woman in Alexandria he wants her as wife number thirteen. The wealthy man is rather fickle by nature and has divorced a total of twelve wives so far. He more or less buys himself into the heart of the woman but then she learns from a well-meaning, former fiancée of her husband just how many times he has been divorced. Forewarned is forearmed. The new bride then launches into a series of ploys that keep her away from the marriage bed -- until her husband begins to appreciate that she may be worth keeping around for awhile.