★ 7 / 10
First things first. Judging by the state of
CinemaSerf
First things first. Judging by the state of his sink at the start of this film, it's hardly surprising that he needed a plumber! Perhaps a dredger might have…
First things first. Judging by the state of his sink at the start of this film, it's hardly surprising that he needed a plumber! Perhaps a dredger might have been handy too? Anyway, with some honourable-types due to arrive for a drinks party, it's imperative that "Hilary" (Reginald Gardiner) gets a plumber. The doorbell goes and he assumes that "Belinski" (Charles Boyer) is the very man. Though he sympathises, he declares himself unqualified for the task. Another buzz at the door reveals the eponymous handy-woman. A wrench, an hammer and some brute force and they are soon having a celebratory snifter. Her uncle (the real plumber) arrives and is shocked to find her disorientated and decides that she is to be sent to the country for a respectable job as a lady's maid. Unbeknown to her, she travels to the home of "Sir Henry" (Reginald Owen) and "Lady Alice" (Margaret Bannerman) to find that the self-same "Belinski" - a writer fleeing Nazi oppression in Czechoslovakia - is also a visitor as a guest of their rather gullible son "Andrew" (Peter Lawford). "Cluny" is a bright as a button and doesn't readily conform to the yes sir, no ma'am environment, so her more astute fellow visitor tries to intercede and by doing so calls into question quite few of the traditional attitudes and deferences whilst falling hook, line and sinker for the young woman. She has no shortage of suitors - step up Richard Haydn as the pompous "Wilson"; though neither, for that matter, does he - but can they both realise in time before his train back to London departs? Boyer and Jones are both on amiable form here delivering a poignant script that manages to mould their mishaps and misunderstandings into something that has a point to make about the class system but chooses to make it subtly. Owen is also quite effective on that score too, and Cyril Mockridge's jolly scoring complements well the generally enjoyable and classy style of production.
★ 7 / 10
Fun, fast, clever, and with a wonderful Jennifer Jones
secondtake
Cluny Brown (1946) "It's never too late for a cat." And this is the essence of the movie, a supposed satire on British manners pre-WWII, but more likely just a…
Cluny Brown (1946)
"It's never too late for a cat." And this is the essence of the movie, a supposed satire on British manners pre-WWII, but more likely just a bit of delightful nonsense. The star for me is the delectable Jennifer Jones who is more than just a pretty decoration-she gives her role as a uninhibitted working class woman a kind of Audrey Hepburn freshness. Before Audrey Hepburn.
Charles Boyer is no doubt the most esteemed star here, but he's his usual self with a bit of forced charm. Director Lubitsch makes the whole scene quite delicious, so it's the big view that makes the small pieces click. (And this is what he is famous for, setting the European scene with a subtle, sharp eye.) There is humor here (it's a comedy, yes) but there is a kind of elegand disdain that is something more than that.
And it's beautifully filmed, by young (great) cinematographer Joe LaShelle.
What holds it all back for me is the writing, which is a kind of forced comedy, creating situations that are "made" for comedy. An awkward confrontation, an improbable entry of one character into another character's world. There is whispering and disbelief and nonchalance all mixed together in a way that is, in fact, lighthearted, but isn't as funny or bright as you would want.
And so the movie zips on, quite fun and lighthearted but always (for me) missing some basic gut humor or even a more trenchant critique of its subject, the British upper class. I did, I have to admit, love the ending, which was perhaps inevitable, but which pulled of a clever telling of the future of the leading characters. Fun, well done! And Jones is sublime even when she's goofy.
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