The Compulsory Wife  The Compulsory Wife is a 1937 British comedy film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Henry Kendall and Joyce Kirby. The film was a quota quickie production with a plot dealing with the farcical complications arising when a pair of strangers have to spend a night alone together in a country cottage when their hosts are detained in town. Overnight all their luggage is stolen by a burglar, leaving them with nothing but their nightclothes. Then the next morning their hosts and the other guests start arriving. It is now classed as a lost film.