I would put "Desire" ahead of this. He directed some of it. But of movies for which Lubitsch got sole directories credit, this charming tale is my favorite.
Charles Boyer is delightful. Richard Haydn is hilarious as the stuffy pharmacist who woos the title character.
And as the title character, Jennifer Jones is lovely and very funny, in just the subtle way the script calls for. She was again to show her comic skills in "Beat The Devil." There she is an outright scream. Based on just these two performances, she must be counted as one of screen history's most adroit comediennes -- though her career generally took her in very different directions.
The only part of "Cluny Brown" that makes me uncomfortable is the insertion of jokes about Nazism in a comedy. Yes, "To Be Or Not To Be" is built around that but "Cluny Brown" is a softer movie. It is a sort of drawing room comedy with some racy undertones. The plumbing: OK, it was and still is unusual for a woman to be a plumber. But this is about sex and class. (In a way, it is a slighter "Rules of the Game.") I don't care for the meanness in much of Lubitsch. Certainly he was a beautiful craftsman. But no matter how often I watch "Trouble In Paradise," I can't seem to like it.
"Cluny Brown" is filled with enormously likable characters. Buffoons too, but they aren't evil. It's one-of-a-kind -- and it's very funny and enormously charming.
Charles Boyer is delightful. Richard Haydn is hilarious as the stuffy pharmacist who woos the title character.
And as the title character, Jennifer Jones is lovely and very funny, in just the subtle way the script calls for. She was again to show her comic skills in "Beat The Devil." There she is an outright scream. Based on just these two performances, she must be counted as one of screen history's most adroit comediennes -- though her career generally took her in very different directions.
The only part of "Cluny Brown" that makes me uncomfortable is the insertion of jokes about Nazism in a comedy. Yes, "To Be Or Not To Be" is built around that but "Cluny Brown" is a softer movie. It is a sort of drawing room comedy with some racy undertones. The plumbing: OK, it was and still is unusual for a woman to be a plumber. But this is about sex and class. (In a way, it is a slighter "Rules of the Game.") I don't care for the meanness in much of Lubitsch. Certainly he was a beautiful craftsman. But no matter how often I watch "Trouble In Paradise," I can't seem to like it.
"Cluny Brown" is filled with enormously likable characters. Buffoons too, but they aren't evil. It's one-of-a-kind -- and it's very funny and enormously charming.