writers_reign
This was the last film completed by Ernst Lubitsch - he began shooting That Lady In Ermine but died halfway through and it was completed by Otto Preminger - and though not quite up there with the likes of Ninotchka and The Shop Around The Corner it remains a fine movie. I've always had a problem with Jennifer Jones and it's basically the same problem I have with Gloria Grahame, overblown, faux sultriness and the impression that their underwear is soiled; strangely enough both of them were able to manage comedy, Graham in Oklahoma and Jones here. It seems that the movie bombed both in the US and here on its release in 1946 and in retrospect perhaps that was too close to the recent war for fluffy, polished satire (Prevert-Carne' had similar problems with La Port de la nuit the same year, albeit with a fantasy rather than a satire and both titles have now been reassessed). Seen today it's difficult to fault the targets, each hit squarely, and the idea of two nonconformists winding up together and here at least Lubitsch was on well-trodden ground given that Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn had done the same thing in Philip Barry's Holiday which was released in 1938, the year in which Cluny Brown is set. There's strong support from the cameo by C. Aubrey Smith downwards and if, predictably, Peter Lawford is the weakest element there are compensations in the shape of Margaret Bannerman, Reginald Ownen, Reginald Gardiner, Richard Haydn, Una O'Connor and Sara Allgood. For a swansong it's something of a trumpeter swan.
StevieGunder
The Lubitsch Touch is evident in this witty, intelligent film. Jennifer Jones shows a vivacity and humor she had never displayed before and would not again until her clever performance in "Beat The Devil". In one amazing scene where she cannot resist showing her wares as a Plumber (to the disdain of the other party guests) she gets to play a reaction to the debacle that is amazing in its combination of pathos and hilarity. Very interesting character actors including a very, very funny Una O'Connor (whose dialogue consists mainly of incessantly clearing her throat), the light as a feather and dead on playing of Margaret Bannerman, and also a chance to see Helen Walker. Charles Boyer plays with his customary light touch and is the anchor to this film, but finally it is Jennifer Jones' performance that takes one breath away and stays with you long after you've seen it.
Greg Couture
Have seen this more than once on TV (though not for quite a few years now) and I'd be first in line if Fox Classics were to issue it on video. It's a slight bit of fluff, given the full Twentieth gloss, and elevated to sublimely sly tongue-in-cheek humor, courtesy of Herr Lubitsch. Everyone in the cast is in top form (Thank goodness David O. Selznick was willing to loan his treasure, Jennifer Jones, to Fox...She's a delight in this one!) Standouts are Sara Allgood as the mansion's oh-so-proper head housekeeper and Richard Haydn as the hilariously stuffy Mr. Wilson, Cluny's would-be suitor. The final shot of Jennifer falling in a dead faint (due to her impending, but not yet obvious maternity) seen through a 5th Avenue bookstore window, is one of the best curtains in screen annals!
vostf
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.
AD
