bkoganbing I've always felt that Oscar Wilde's work while good was better in parts than the sum of the whole. There isn't anyone with some degree of literacy who hasn't relished some delectable quote of Wilde's, either some offhand remark or a quotation from one of his. I'm willing to bet that Wilde has one of the largest sections in the English speaking world in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.But unlike his contemporary George Bernard Shaw who was prolifically writing things of social significance, Wilde took society as he saw it, wrote and amused his public about the foibles of same, but his characters have no great purpose driving their lives. Ironically for Wilde it was his whole life and how he lived and loved that became the biggest question of social significance for him to deal with.Thus it is for Ernest Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff a pair of upper class aristocratic types who apparently don't put in a 9 to 5 day, but flit about making observations of others in their station. But among other things that is uncovered is that Ernest is a foundling adopted by the Worthing family, thus making him not a suitable heir for the hand of Algernon's cousin Gwendolen played by Joan Greenwood. A game Michael Redgrave as Ernest has been playing is discovered by Michael Denison as Algy. He discovers a cigarette case inscribed from Cecily to Jack in his possession and Dennison worms a confession out of Redgrave that when he occasionally goes to the country he assumes the identity of a brother Jack for his ward Cecily played by newcomer Dorothy Tutin. Denison is quite amused by the whole thing and follows Redgrave out to the country pretending to be his brother Ernest. He also takes a liking to Tutin.On this plot which is no sillier than some American film comedies hang some of Oscar Wilde's celebrated lines. Knowing they're coming is the treat here. Everything of course is rather neatly resolved in the end with nurse Margaret Rutherford making confessions that resolve everyone's problems paternal and romantic and most of all social for the dowager head of the family Lady Brackenall played by Edith Evans. When Wilde was abruptly stopped from creating by the mores of the Victorian public his like was not seen by the English speaking world until Noel Coward who additionally performed as well as wrote. I've often thought that the only reason Coward did not suffer Wilde's fate was that he had the good sense to cultivate royalty.As for The Importance Of Being Ernest it's a play about a lot of idle people who do say some of the cleverest things ever written in English. It's bright and entertaining and the witticisms certainly haven't lost any edge in over a century.

Ephraim Gadsby This "Importance of Being Earnest" is a funny movie derived from Oscar Wilde's best play. There are no clunkers in the cast and hardly a wrong step is made, even when Wilde is altered.Dame Edith Evans did not make her stage debut until fifteen years after "Earnest" first premiered, so Oscar Wilde could not have had her in mind when he created the role of Lady Bracknell; but she is so perfect it becomes difficult to imagine anyone else in the part, ever. She manages to squeeze every note of the music of human language into simple words like "found" and "handbag." Margaret Rutherford and Miles Malleson, two famous and prolific actors of the "British dotty school" come very close to being ideal for their more minor parts of (respectfully) Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble.For the young lovers, the women are well chosen and make a fine contrast. Sultry-voiced Joan Greenwood has had a solid film career to this point (including the Alec Guiness classic "Man in a White Suit") and she knows how to deliver a comic line. Then new-comer Dorthy Tutin is so good with her lines, you'd think she was an old-hand, rather than a fresh-faced, twenty-two year old newcomer making her first major film appearance.The "young men" are sometimes thought of as more problematic. Michael Redgrave (unfortunately known these days more for being the father of Vanessa and Lynn than for his great acting) was in his forties. Mainly stage-bound actor Michael Denison was in his thirties. Denison wonderfully limns the all-important character of Algernon Moncrieff. He's young-looking and exuberant and delivers his lines with great care and consideration (Algernon is an easy character to go hammy with and Denison avoids that trap).For his part, Redgrave compensates for his age by an exquisitely-honed performance. Not only is his delivery spot-on, he practically gives a workshop on how to get a laugh with a slight twitch of a mustache or the roll of an eye. Redgrave and Denison seem to be having a high old time with their roles, while taking them seriously and never overacting.Also, be on the look-out for long-time supporting actor Richard Wattis as "Seton." Blink, and you'll miss him, as he flits in to raise a supercilious eyebrow or two.Some Wilde purists may object to the expurgation of lines. Many of the lines cut are the sort of thing that probably just struck Wilde as "a good idea at the time" and no one will miss them. Other lines may have been cut to keep this movie short, light and frothy. Wilde could be very funny, but he could also be unnecessarily cruel. I don't think he would have been a nice man to know, the way he could sling around hurtful lines to humorous effect. All his characters have been accused of "talking like Wilde" -- which is true to different degrees. A few of the missing lines were genuine, polished gems and it was a pity they weren't included. Also, the sub-plot of Grisby, which only appears in longer versions of the play, does not rear its ugly head in this short version (and good riddance). I, for one, am glad they kept the movie light and without a mean bone in its body.The movie has also been changed subtly from the stage. The stage version has the action taking place on a minimum of sets. The movie remains bound to the sound-stage and never really ventures out of doors (even in the outdoors scenes) but it adds a few more sets and more mobility. For instance, it begins in Jack's flat rather than in Algernon's. For me, this works even better than the stage version and gives Jack a good reason to throw one of Algernon's lines back in his face.So, you have a good play shorn of overmuch dialogue and a solid cast acting their hearts out. I don't know why I call it "Almost Perfect."

Neil Doyle THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST has had several reincarnations on film but this British version from the '50s, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring MICHAEL REDGRAVE (as one of the men assuming the name Earnest), is one of the most satisfying because of a splendid cast.The Victorian comedy of manners includes impeccable performances from EDITH EVANS as Lady Bracknell and MARGARET RUTHERFORD as Miss Prism with a delightful leading lady role for JOAN GREENWOOD, as one of the young ladies confused by identity crisis. MICHAEL DENISON is the snobbish other man using the name "Earnest".So many typical Oscar Wilde witticisms come through in the dialog, so fast and furious that it's impossible to remember all of the very quotable comments made by the participants in this wonderfully played farce. I love one particular line: "One should always bring one's diary along when traveling by train. It gives you something sensational to read." Summing up: What's in a name? Plenty.Just as wonderful as the more recent version with Rupert Everett. Asquith's clever direction is right on target to spice up the comedy from beginning to end with sparkling performances, as only the British can do. Benjamin Frankel's sprightly score is an added delight.

theowinthrop In January 1895 two plays were produced in London's West End, and the reactions of the theater going public was marked in both cases. The first was GUY DOMVILLE, a historical drama that was written by Henry James. James had spent the better part of a year writing this play, and it was to establish him (he hoped) as a great dramatist. It has never been revived (as far as I know) but it's opening night was a disaster. Despite being put into the hands of a leading actor manager (George Alexander), the play was considered so static and feeble that the audience was laughing at the actors throughout the performance. James, a nervous man, did not show up until the curtain was closing. In a moment of anger and meanness, Alexander (who had gotten his share of jeers that night) signaled the audience to be quiet, and said that it was his pleasure to introduce the author of the play. Poor James walked over to Alexander, imagining he would receive kudos of applause for brilliant work. Instead the audience jeered and laughed at him - and he fled the theater (and London). He never wrote another commercial play.A few weeks later Alexander regained his audience by appearing as Jack Worthing in the second play of that month: Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. It was a hit comedy since that night, and though Wilde's personal disaster caused it to be closed prematurely it has remained (with LADY WINDEMERE'S FAN) permanently in world repertoire. But Wilde too, due to his legal disaster, never wrote another play for the British theater - he did write SALOME for foreign performances.Due to the Wilde Scandal of 1895 his stories and plays were not performed on stage or in the movies in Britain for years. It was different in the U.S. THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (brought up to date) was a successful film with Charles Laughton, Robert Young, and Margaret O'Brien during the war. In the film FLESH AND FANTASY a version of LORD ARTHUR SAVILE'S CRIME was in one of the episodes with Edward G. Robinson, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, and Thomas Mitchell. And finally (in 1945) a film version of Oscar's sole novel, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, popped up with Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, and Angela Lansbury.Inevitably there was a softening of the censor rules for Wilde's comedies. And in 1952 Anthony Asquith did a lovely colored version of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. I think Asquith was copying the way he presented the film from Olivier's earlier HISTORY OF KING HENRY V (1944), where we see the production at the Globe Theater in the 1590s transformed into the actual locals in England and France (actually Ireland). Here we see a wealthy couple sitting in a theater box in London, and looking at the program, and the curtain rises. But the scene immediately is more like John Worthing's rooms at "the Albany" hotel in London, with his servants giving him a bath. Then the scene changes as we meet Worthing's friend Algy Moncrieff in the dining room.Michael Redgrave is Jack, which is worth noting because Redgrave's film roles were usually dramatic parts, not comic ones. He is not the assured snob that John Gielgud played on stage (opposite Edith Evans), which one can still catch on recordings of his performance. But he is deft in his part, as the ultimate gentleman who is tragically bereft of normal parentage because he can only trace his ancestry to the handbag that he was abandoned in at Victoria Station. Evans is the perfect Lady Bracknell (a "gorgon without a myth, which is quite sad", as Jack says). She is eminently supportive of the current status quo, willing to refuse Jack's desire to marry her daughter Gwendolyn (Joan Greenwood), while willing to accept his ward Cecily (Dorothy Tutin) for her relative Algy, as Cecily has a fortune of 130,000 pounds coming to her. Lady B is a snob, but a pragmatist. When asking Jack about his politics, he says he is a Liberal. She says that does not matter, at night she allows them to pretend they are Tories.The two young woman are fine, especially in the scene where they think the other is trying to steal their boyfriend. Tutin's comments back at Greenwood are met with the approving gaze of the family butler (Aubrey Mather). But when both find their boyfriends are lying about their name, they suddenly reject both Jack and Algy, and call each other sister. Earlier Algernon had said that before women call each other sister they call each other by many other names - and he is shown to be right here.One must also note the wonderful dual performance of Margaret Rutherford as Miss Prism and Miles Malleson as the diffident Canon Chausable. Both are past the age of real passion, but both are also attracted to each other - but their idea of a tryst is a walk in a garden, or Miss Prism going to the Vicarage. And Redgrave's final moments with Rutherford, when the mystery at the center of the play is almost solved, is a wonderful send-up of Victorian melodrama like EAST LYNNE about illegitimate children or shamed mothers.An elegant, amusing trifle to this day - and a hint of what Wilde might have given us more of had he not been wrecked by the law and his lifestyle.