A tale of the seven year itch, except the marriage has only lasted six years, and it's the wife (Merle Oberon) instead of the husband (Melvyn Douglas) who is starting to get bored. In a word, this one is dreadfully dull, and that despite legendary director Ernst Lubitsch and the radiant Oberon. It doesn't work as a romance - Douglas and Merle Oberon have no chemistry, and the pianist she takes up with (Burgess Meredith, the only one who breathes life into his part) is abrasive and unlikeable. It doesn't work as a comedy - the script is flat and unfunny, and I honestly can't think of a single moment of real cleverness. As for the Lubitsch touch, there are no signs of lightness or any kind of crackle here, just blandness and everyone involved just going through the motions. I'm the first to despise the Production Code, but I don't think we can assign the blame to it - the film the very next year from Lubitsch, 'To Be or Not to Be' was fantastic, as was 'Ninotchka' from 1939. Regardless, this is one to skip.
Review of That Uncertain Feeling
