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Genevieve

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In the late 1940s and early '50s, some of the funniest films were being cranked out by the Brits, films of great wit and sly humor. Numbered among these comedies of English manners were the Ealing Studio-produced The Lavender Hill Mob, The Ladykillers, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. And then there was Genevieve, called "the best Ealing comedy that never was" by the British Film Institute. Director Henry Cornelius, formerly of Ealing Studio, had offered Genevieve to that same film company but was turned down. Big mistake for Ealing.

Genevieve tells the tale of two couples, Alan McKim and his wife Wendy and Ambrose Claverhouse and his model friend Rosalind, who undertake a yearly vintage automobile rally which starts from London and ends at Brighton. En route, both Alan and Ambrose's vehicles take turns in breaking down.The resulting back-and-forth banter, compounded with the surfacing of certain old envies, turns a friendly rivalry between best chums Alan and Ambrose into a serious enmity. In the heat of the moment, Alan and Ambrose engage in a gentleman's bet of one hundred pounds as to who first gets back to London. Things, of course, then proceed to get progressively and comedically insane...

It's always neat (and a bit satisfying) to witness straight-laced, proper Englishmen turn into raving lunatics, reduced to formulating zany schemes and indulging in glorious pettiness. John Gregson as Alan, Kenneth More as Ambrose, and Kay Kendall as Rosalind are tremendous in their madcap roles. This was, in fact, Ms. Kendall's coming-out party and she was touted by critics as the next Carole Lombard. But her potential was never realized as she died of leukemia in 1959, at the age of 33. Lovely Dinah Sheridan is great as Wendy, Alan's patient saint of a wife, providing the futile voice of reason.

Watch for the classic restaurant/club scene in which an inebriated Rosalind picks up a trumpet and plays the title song. See also how a little girl and her ice cream, a parked lorry and an elderly antique car enthusiast can hilariously cramp a racer's style. Oh man, this is a funny, funny movie.

John Gregson, by the way, reportedly didn't drive before this film. In fact, in several long shots, Dinah Sheridan had to give him driving instructions under her breath. And Genevieve, to illustrate the whimsy so inherent in these classic British comedies, is not the name of a woman character in the movie but is Alan's 1904 French-made Darracq vintage automobile.

This British comedy pits two couples and their vintage roadsters against one another in a cross-country race. This was a great movie in its day, and is much better than American road race movies.
I was a young boy when saw Genevieve (1953) in a theater in Berkeley, California in the early 1950's when it was first released. My parents had taken me along with one of my dad's faculty friends to see the movie. She was recovering from surgery at the time and literally came very close to busting her stiches. We laughed and laughed and laughed.
I am glad to see that a DVD is out, even if is a foreign edition.

In the late 1940s and early '50s, some of the funniest films were being cranked out by the Brits, films of great wit and sly humor. Numbered among these comedies of English manners were the Ealing Studio-produced The Lavender Hill Mob, The Ladykillers, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. And then there was Genevieve, called "the best Ealing comedy that never was" by the British Film Institute. Director Henry Cornelius, formerly of Ealing Studio, had offered Genevieve to that same film company but was turned down. Big mistake for Ealing.

Genevieve tells the tale of two couples, Alan McKim and his wife Wendy and Ambrose Claverhouse and his model friend Rosalind, who undertake a yearly vintage automobile rally which starts from London and ends at Brighton. En route, both Alan and Ambrose's vehicles take turns in breaking down.The resulting back-and-forth banter, compounded with the surfacing of certain old envies, turns a friendly rivalry between best chums Alan and Ambrose into a serious enmity. In the heat of the moment, Alan and Ambrose engage in a gentleman's bet of one hundred pounds as to who first gets back to London. Things, of course, then proceed to get progressively and comedically insane...

It's always neat (and a bit satisfying) to witness straight-laced, proper Englishmen turn into raving lunatics, reduced to formulating zany schemes and indulging in glorious pettiness. John Gregson as Alan, Kenneth More as Ambrose, and Kay Kendall as Rosalind are tremendous in their madcap roles. This was, in fact, Ms. Kendall's coming-out party and she was touted by critics as the next Carole Lombard. But her potential was never realized as she died of leukemia in 1959, at the age of 33. Lovely Dinah Sheridan is great as Wendy, Alan's patient saint of a wife, providing the futile voice of reason.

Watch for the classic restaurant/club scene in which an inebriated Rosalind picks up a trumpet and plays the title song. See also how a little girl and her ice cream, a parked lorry and an elderly antique car enthusiast can hilariously cramp a racer's style. Oh man, this is a funny, funny movie.

John Gregson, by the way, reportedly didn't drive before this film. In fact, in several long shots, Dinah Sheridan had to give him driving instructions under her breath. And Genevieve, to illustrate the whimsy so inherent in these classic British comedies, is not the name of a woman character in the movie but is Alan's 1904 French-made Darracq vintage automobile.

This is a very entertaining film with talented stars. A little dated but a classic from the UK. The Korean sub titles can be turned off. Use the subtitle button on the remote rather than the menu option.

Lust, jealousy, ruthless conniving...and that's for starters. No, this isn't a Lana Turner and John Garfield film. This is Genevieve, one of the greatest of the classic English comedies from the late Forties and early Fifties. The movie is witty, warming and, above all else, funny.

Genevieve is a 1904 Darrocq roadster, driven by the ordinarily levelheaded young barrister, Alan McKim (John Gregson), on the London to Brighton and back annual antique car rally. By his side is his indulgent and sometimes exasperated wife, Wendy (Dinah Sheridan). Joining him in a 1904 Stryker is Alan's best friend, the irrepressible Ambrose Claverhouse (Kenneth More). Joining Ambrose is the beautiful creature he hopes to have an emotional experience with overnight in Brighton, the elegant and slightly off-center Rosalind Peters (Kay Kendall). Stuffed in the Stryker's small back seat is Suzy, Rosalind's Saint Bernard. And off they go, the cars snorting and puffing, wheezing and sometimes breaking down. We have a chance to see how much the annual rally and Genevieve mean to Alan and how much Wendy, who'd rather be at a party that evening, loves him. We learn what a loud and funny man Ambrose can be, and how just below the surface is a competitive streak just waiting to break free. And we see what a beautiful creature the long-legged and fey Rosalind is, and that she just might be Ambrose's match. Says Rosalind to Wendy, "Ambrose only seems to think about two things. That silly old car - and the other thing." Says Wendy to Rosalind, "What other thing? Oh. My husband only thinks about the car."

The four reach Brighton and enough things happen to them to keep us smiling. But then a little misunderstanding leads to a 100 pound bet as to who will get back to London and cross the Westminster Bridge finish line first. What had been a friendly run turns into a cutthroat competition. Ambrose comes into his own...and nice guy Alan matches him. It's not too long before Wendy and Rosalind, who at first thought the men were behaving like boys, join them in the thrill of the race. It's nip and tuck all the way, with stratagems, close calls and some truly ruthless plotting. It's great.

Among the many reasons for this movie's charm and success are the four actors. Sheridan is an expert actress and light comedienne, likable and believable. Gregson is stolid but equally likable. They make a nice couple. Almost blowing them away, however, are Kenneth More and Kay Kendall. More had been the confident, energetic bit player or second lead for years. Kendall, with her looks, style and way with words had been slowly inching up the star ladder. With this movie and the following year's Doctor in the House, they both made it to the top. More was a much more versatile and subtle actor than his movie persona might have you believe. Ambrose Claverhouse may be loud and confident, he might even be just a bit of a bully, and he certainly has a victory laugh that will drive you crazy, but More is able with all this to make the guy funny and even appealing. We feel rather sorry for Ambrose when his emotional experience with Rosalind is not to be. Kendall simply was one of a kind...so elegant, so funny, so off the wall. When, tipsy on the champagne Ambrose has been giving her while the four of them dine, Rosalind decides to play the trumpet, Kendall is so funny you'll want to watch the scene again. Kendall has to set up the character at the table. She has to sound a little slurred. She has to walk carefully to the bandstand. She has to mime playing the trumpet, first slowly and sweet and then swinging, and she has to pass out back in her chair. Kendall does all this with exquisite timing and style. She's so funny because she knows not to try for a moment to be funny. Kendall didn't have much time at the top. She died six years later at 33 of leukemia.

Not the least of Genevieve's charms is the jaunty, quirky music for the film composed and played by Larry Adler, perhaps the best harmonica player ever. Adler was one of those great American artists who were blacklisted because he wouldn't knuckle under to the vogue for self-abasing testimony before Congressional committees about his political beliefs. Unable to find much work in America he moved to Britain and started over. When Genevieve was released in the United States, his name was removed on the credits as the composer and another name substituted. When the music won an Academy Award, there was no mention of Larry Adler. It took years before the Oscar organization rectified this. Adler decided to stay where he was, in Britain. He kept his citizenship but only returned to the States later for concert or composing gigs.

Genevieve in the Region 2 DVD transfer looks fine but the movie deserves a first-class restoration treatment. Look for the the Carlton or ITV "Special Edition" with a run time of 110 minutes. The time includes a 25-minute documentary about the making of the movie titled A Profile of Genevieve.

Genevieve
by Henry Cornelius

Had a rough day at the office? Need to escape from the pressures of modern day life, yet don't quite feel up to the continuous explosions and pyrotechnics that pass for entertainment in today's motion pictures? Want to see one of the nicest films about automobiles ever made? Then, I highly recommend the movie Genevieve.

This film, made in 1953 on a super-tight budget, by a 39 year-old director who was also the film's producer, has old cars, romance, comedy, gentle action, along with sex appeal and charm enough to drain away the day's tensions--it almost guarantees you'll be in a good mood after seeing it.

The story is simple: two couples are entered in the annual London to Brighton Rally, which (for those unfamiliar with it) is for cars built before 1905. Alan McKim (played by John Gregson) is a lawyer (barrister in the UK) whose wife Wendy (played by Dinah Sheridan) is growing tired of going on the event each year. She's also unhappy about the time that McKim lavishes on his automobile, the 1904 Darracq named Genevieve.

Meanwhile, the wonderfully named Ambrose Claverhouse (played by Kenneth More), who is an advertising executive and something of a playboy, boasts about the reliability and performance of his 1904 Spyker. Claverhouse shows up at the starting line each year with a different female companion--invariably young, glamorous, and beautiful. This year he arrives with fashion model Rosalind Peters (played by Kay Kendall, whose career as an actress was beginning to wane before she took the role in Genevieve). Kendall plays the role of a pampered and spoiled diva to perfection.

The London to Brighton run starts out well for both couples with the scenes along the road, right from the starting line, wonderfully evocative of motoring in England both before 1905 and during the 1950s. We watch as the veteran cars inch their way along the highways and lanes, and deal with the contemporary traffic of the early 1950s.

Unfortunately, McKim's Genevieve has a myriad of problems along the way. When Alan and Wendy finally do arrive it is long after everyone else--including, of course, Ambrose and Rosalind. Claverhouse makes some unflattering comments about McKim's Darracq, inflaming an already seething tension over Wendy's alleged former romantic interest in Ambrose. Thus the two men end up in a wager: the next day they will race back to London with the first across the Westminster Bridge deemed the winner. The stakes: nothing less than ownership of Genevieve.

The race itself, highly illegal and grounds for dismissal from the Veteran Car Club, is where the fun really begins. Each man is determined to win by whatever means necessary and each sabotages the other in every way possible. It is funny and exciting in a sort of gentle 1950's way. In the end, nobody gets hurt, and it's not giving away the story to tell you that McKim gets to keep his beloved Genevieve. (You knew that anyway.)

Originally, director/producer Henry Cornelius wanted to use two English-built automobiles for the movie, but he couldn't convince any owners to let him have their cars for the filming. The French-built Darracq and Dutch-made Spyker finally came available. The irony is that the film was eventually a huge success in the UK and the little 1904 Darracq named Genevieve is now one of the most famous and much-beloved Veteran automobiles in all of England.

The film was also good to its actors, all of whom were already well-regarded in British theater. Kendall's career was revived by the film, More's took off, and Sheridan and Gregson added to their already growing resumés. After a slow box-office start, Genevieve won the BAFTA for Best British Film and received an Academy Award nomination for its musical score, which features a lovely harmonica theme played by Larry Alder. The script was written, surprisingly, by an American, William Rose, who managed to get all of the British Veteran Car stuff pitch perfect.

For a long time Genevieve was all but unavailable to American audiences. I recall seeing it once on Saturday afternoon television back in the 1970s. But now it is available on DVD from Carlton Visual Entertainment, digitally remastered and with Dolby digital sound. As this is the 21st century, Genevieve is also available from Amazon's Video on Demand, at $2.99 for a seven-day rental. It is a car movie worth watching and results in about as much fun as anyone could imagine from a charming movie about a 1904 Darracq named Genevieve.

Copyright 2009 Kevin Clemens (speedreaders.info)

The colour is wonderful after 50 years and the old cars steal the show. The London to Brighton race of antique cars is memorialized in this comic romp. It is laced with sexual tension which was far advanced for 1953. The luscious ladies shine in this look at men and their manic fascination with motor cars. You take a trip back in time and see post-War London and Southern England scenery at its best. A very sharp transfer which shows-off great Technicolor. Fun and quite memorable. A British Classic which was a hit in America. Larry Adler's harmonica music is one-of-a-kind and classic in itself.

This DVD from S. Korea finally makes available a fine old English "classic car" movie in a form suitable for American TVs. (The original J. Arthur Rank film was for PAL TVs and English region.) It is a good, clear DVD in technicolor and full-screen format, with clean English soundtrack and optional subtitles.

Focusing on the mania which classic car owners have for their vehicles, the story charms us with its humor (I almost wrote "humour") and its wholesome humanity, including true love, perseverance, male competitiveness, and fundamental decency. As such, it is a good family film as well, even including a dog among its cast of characters.

Devotees of the harmonica will especially enjoy the Academy Award nominated musical background, composed and performed by the late, celebrated Larry Adler, probably the world's first harmonica virtuoso. (Though the original U.S. release wouldn't name Mr. Adler--blacklisted because of his refusal to cooperate with the infamous Joseph McCarthy committee--he did finally receive due credit many years later.)

I consider this a film classic, one worthy of inclusion in one's personal film library, and I recommend it heartily.

I didn't even know that DVDs differ from country to county. How can I get a copy of this British movie to play for my Mom in upstate New York?

I recieved the DVDfilm Genevieve after years of seeking. I was happy to find it at your website.
The delivery was quick. The film, however didn't work properly and I think the purchaser would
have understood that Sweden not is the same area as US.
I returned the film and I do apreciate (sorry for the spelling) the way my complaints were taken care of. The film I got in exchange seems to work properly. (But perhaps my DVDplayer is too old)
Many thanks for outstanding service.
Lars Öhman, Sollentuna Sweden