In this comedy about a businessman whose wife mistakenly believes she is a talented soprano, Paul Douglas is terrific, not only as an actor but as a character. He is thoroughly realistic about his wife's voice, yet supports her all the way, and, considering the Hays Code was strongly in force, I don't think I am providing a spoiler by saying that, despite ample temptation and opportunity, he does not break his marriage vows with Linda Darnell. I also don't think I am spoiling by saying that, despite a generally witty script, the ending is the same tired old get-out frequently used in this type of picture. (Another reviewer says that Ray Milland suggested the specific gag that triggers the ending. He may have done, but it was previously used in the movie Princess O'Rourke in 1943.)
But, while one can enjoy Douglas's robust performance, the satire of society people who pretend to be cultured, and many other things, the treatment of the two lead actresses is quite dispiriting. Darnell looks gorgeous and acts very believably, but, except for a few minutes of being sophisticated and charming when she first appears, she is cold and predatory, without the fluffiness of a 1930s character that would have made her behaviour amusing and less threatening. She seems like an argument against giving women power-- they become as arrogant and demanding as the worst male bosses.
Celeste Holm comes off far worse. Except for a few minutes at the end of the film, when she gets to be compassionate and spirited, she is tiresome and deluded. Like Darnell's character, she is not treated as she would have been in a Thirties screwball comedy, in which she would have behaved like a complete fool. But the much more realistic treatment here is very sad. The scene in which she fails to get any concert engagements but determines to become a singer anyway is actually rather poignant, and completely out of key with a comedy. She seems to embody all the talented college-educated American women who felt frustrated and despondent as housewives in the late Forties and Fifties. Also, since Holm was an excellent singer, it is disturbing to watch her reining in her voice to sound amateurish and being told she is no good. Her entire role, as an unsuccessful performer and a far less attractive woman than Darnell, seems a humiliation.
It's also a mystery why such an otherwise clever, well-made movie has such a dog of a title. It sounds like the kind of thing that is slapped on a picture that no one expects to do well. Despite its flaws, it is a very enjoyable movie, but if women bristle at some of it they can take comfort in the fact that it explodes its own assumptions. If men really were so superior to women, they wouldn't have turned out a movie with so many weaknesses.
But, while one can enjoy Douglas's robust performance, the satire of society people who pretend to be cultured, and many other things, the treatment of the two lead actresses is quite dispiriting. Darnell looks gorgeous and acts very believably, but, except for a few minutes of being sophisticated and charming when she first appears, she is cold and predatory, without the fluffiness of a 1930s character that would have made her behaviour amusing and less threatening. She seems like an argument against giving women power-- they become as arrogant and demanding as the worst male bosses.
Celeste Holm comes off far worse. Except for a few minutes at the end of the film, when she gets to be compassionate and spirited, she is tiresome and deluded. Like Darnell's character, she is not treated as she would have been in a Thirties screwball comedy, in which she would have behaved like a complete fool. But the much more realistic treatment here is very sad. The scene in which she fails to get any concert engagements but determines to become a singer anyway is actually rather poignant, and completely out of key with a comedy. She seems to embody all the talented college-educated American women who felt frustrated and despondent as housewives in the late Forties and Fifties. Also, since Holm was an excellent singer, it is disturbing to watch her reining in her voice to sound amateurish and being told she is no good. Her entire role, as an unsuccessful performer and a far less attractive woman than Darnell, seems a humiliation.
It's also a mystery why such an otherwise clever, well-made movie has such a dog of a title. It sounds like the kind of thing that is slapped on a picture that no one expects to do well. Despite its flaws, it is a very enjoyable movie, but if women bristle at some of it they can take comfort in the fact that it explodes its own assumptions. If men really were so superior to women, they wouldn't have turned out a movie with so many weaknesses.