Expected more

A Disappointing Continuation

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Royal British couple down on its luck raises funds by giving tours of its castle. It's fun watching the star quartet in this light comedy, amiably directed by Donen, who was right at home in this sort of material. It features some witty dialog that the stars deliver effortlessly. What keeps it from being better is that it is a bit too talky and stagy and it takes a while to really get going. The finale featuring a duel between Grant and Mitchum over Kerr is funny. Simmons seems to be having a ball in the role of a divorced woman in heat. Also amusing is Watson as the butler. Parental Warning: The opening credits include nudity!

An all-star cast just about manages to give this flimsy, unlikely comedy a lift though why the likes of Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons ever agreed to do it is something of a mystery. It's based on a play by Hugh and Margaret Williams and it's all very sub-Noel Coward, (his song 'The Stately Homes of England' is used on the soundtrack).Grant and Kerr are the lord and lady of the manor and Mitchum, the rich American who sweeps Kerr off her feet five minutes after meeting her. Simmons is the scatty friend and she's wonderful, (it's a great supporting part). Grant is magnificent. It's a great, understated performance and he's far, far too good for the material. It's not unlike the martial comedies he made in the thirties but at least they were American and funny; this is terribly British and isn't in the least funny. On the other hand, it is very stylishly directed by Stanley Donen, though again I have the foggiest idea why he would want to make it in the first place.

Hugh and Margaret Williams turned out several successful stage comedies in the 1950s almost, as it were, in defiance of the Angry Young Man school that had all but decimated the breed and this was one of the more successful. Three of the principals had and/or would co-star several times as in Grant-Kerr (An Affair To Remember), Mitchum-Kerr (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, The Sundowners) so were thoroughly at home with each other and Jean Simmons had no trouble fitting in as the gooseberry. A definite bonus is the background music, what amounts to an extended medley of Noel Coward favourites from Sigh No More, to I'll Follow My Secret Heart to Poor Little Rich Girl to Dance, Little Lady etc and for good measure The Stately Homes Of England is sung over both front and end credits. Essentially tourist Mitchum turns up to scratch a ten-tear itch that Kerr was unaware of, hardly surprising when hubby is Cary Grant. This paves the way for some sophisticated banter, anti-American jokes before it all ends happily. Even almost sixty years later there is still a large dollop of charm clinging tenaciously. Catch it if you can.

Some had mentioned Noel Coward and the drawing room comedy. I think it should be mentioned that the entire score was completely based on the songs of Noel Coward. I feel the film was an homage to Coward and his light plays of the 20's and 30's. Actually, if you know Coward's music, it forecasts things in the plot.For example at the beginning of the film when Grant and Kerr are having their first conversation, she reads a poem, and the music being played is "I'll Follow My Secret Heart." It is not too long after this she meets the third person in the triangle. I think it's quite an enjoyable movie, and it is nice to see people enjoy performing light banter.