What is "the world and his wife"

alt. (context hyperbole chiefly UK Australia English) everyone; a great crowd; a jumbled assortment of people. n. (context hyperbole chiefly UK Australia English) everyone; a great crowd; a jumbled assortment of people.

The World and His Wife is a lost American 1920 silent drama film produced by Cosmopolitan Productions and distributed through Paramount Pictures. Directed by Robert G. Vignola, the film was based on the 1908 Broadway play of the same name by Charles Frederic Nirdlinger, which was adapted from the Spanish language play El Gran Galeoto by Jose Echegaray Y Eizaguirre. The film stars Alma Rubens, Montagu Love and Pedro de Cordoba and Broadway actress Margaret Dale in her film debut.

The story was later filmed at MGM as Lovers (1927).