The facts in this movie are simple. An impenetrable London fog forces divorce lawyer Laurence Olivier to take refuge in a hotel overnight. A costume ball forces him to take a suite. Finally, Merle Oberon forces her way into his room and winkles him out of his bedroom. Naturally, after this Meet Cute, they fall in love; and naturally Ralph Richardson comes in the next afternoon to seek advice on a divorce from his wife, Binnie Barnes, who attended that ball and was reported to have spent the night with a man; and naturally Olivier assumes it's Miss Oberon -- or Mrs. Korda, as she would become in 18 months -- who is the grand daughter of Morton Selten, the judge of all of Olivier's cases, who has a dreadful history of five or six marriages, two of them to men of the same name. My lord, that is the explanation of the plot of this movie.
The copy of this movie movie that played yesterday on Turner Classic Movies is a beautiful example of early British Technicolor, even though the colors are rather dull and proper. Director Tim Whelan has a tough job in making Miss Oberon adorable even as she steals a good night's sleep from Olivier, and later to fascinate him as a scarlet woman. He doesn't quite succeed. Neither is Olivier particularly interesting as a frequently grumpy fellow eager to believe the worst about a girl of whom he believes the worst. Still, it has its fine moments, particularly Richardson as an increasingly drunk cuckold, and H.B. Hallam as Selten's butler. Everyone has his or her moments, but despite a workmanlike handling of the movie, it remains an enjoyable but never superior movie.
The copy of this movie movie that played yesterday on Turner Classic Movies is a beautiful example of early British Technicolor, even though the colors are rather dull and proper. Director Tim Whelan has a tough job in making Miss Oberon adorable even as she steals a good night's sleep from Olivier, and later to fascinate him as a scarlet woman. He doesn't quite succeed. Neither is Olivier particularly interesting as a frequently grumpy fellow eager to believe the worst about a girl of whom he believes the worst. Still, it has its fine moments, particularly Richardson as an increasingly drunk cuckold, and H.B. Hallam as Selten's butler. Everyone has his or her moments, but despite a workmanlike handling of the movie, it remains an enjoyable but never superior movie.