You feel the Lubitsch touch many times along the movie but it doesn't work very well. There are funny situations, funny dialogues but it never takes the shape of some wild comedies Lubitsch directed before.
What's lacking?
A good plot. There was a good idea but the movie gets stuck in an english manor.
Charles Boyer plays a character who doesn't deserve the leading role. This Czech writer is a scrounger and quite a smooth-tongued coward.
Jennifer Jones plays ingénue Cluny Brown, a girl with a naive aspiration for 'her place'.
So different, so close. Well there was a development in The Shop Around the Corner. Here the development is flat and the happy pair has little to arouse emotion.
Too many funny situations are based on the english composure. That's a bit light for a whole comedy. But Lubitsch gave us comedies with lots of laughs and fun which largely make up for that minor ultimate opus.
What's lacking?
A good plot. There was a good idea but the movie gets stuck in an english manor.
Charles Boyer plays a character who doesn't deserve the leading role. This Czech writer is a scrounger and quite a smooth-tongued coward.
Jennifer Jones plays ingénue Cluny Brown, a girl with a naive aspiration for 'her place'.
So different, so close. Well there was a development in The Shop Around the Corner. Here the development is flat and the happy pair has little to arouse emotion.
Too many funny situations are based on the english composure. That's a bit light for a whole comedy. But Lubitsch gave us comedies with lots of laughs and fun which largely make up for that minor ultimate opus.