Have been waiting to see this film for ages (like more than 50 years) and finally saw it in 2022 and liked it more than I thought I was going to considering the bad rep it has gotten from critics through the years. I found it quite high on my rating score, crediting mostly the cast, all exemplary, and because he got the most flack, I really liked James Booth in his role. Of the three main stars, the three ladies, Stevens and Jones are extraordinary and Blackman comes across with the least well-drawn performance because she isn't as convincing, as she was probably certainly cast to be, more villainous as the otherwise very funny Baroness. Booth's part isn't supposed to carry the picture as he was meant to deflect from the indication of the title that it is to be about him. It's not about him, it is more about his mother... Lionel Jeffries is a "hoot," if the success of the film depended upon the film having one. The direction is very apt by Andrew L. Stone, who produced with Virginia L. Stone and it was written by Andrew L. Stone, although I am not certain if it is an original story idea by him, but it works for me and I found the whole of the production to work terrifically. The scenes with the couch are extremely well-directed and are only an example of the great skill required to pull off the entire film, and it succeeds. Very British, and a good thing.
Review of The Secret of My Success
The Secret of My Success
(1965)
Better Than the Dreadful Reviews Would Have It
17 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers