Customer Reviews

Reluctant Debutante [VHS]

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just love this movie. It's one I watch over and over.

Sandra Dee plays Jane, a young American woman who goes to London to live with her father (Rex Harrison) and new stepmother, Lady Broadbent (Kay Kendall). When Lady Broadbent finds out her snooty relative Mabel Claremont (Angela Lansbury) is launching her daughter in the very last London Season, Lady Broadbent is determined that Jane will have a perfect coming out. Though Jane tries, she is bored to tears by the dull men she meets, until she sees a gorgeous drummer with a very questionable reputation.

This is a very humorous movie, and one of the first that Sandra Dee was in, so this is a great flick for fans of her work (another of my favorites with her is "Gidget"). Rex Harrison, as the charmingly tolerant father & husband, is probably best known for the roll of Henry Higgens in the movie of "My Fair Lady," and if you liked him in that classic, you'll likely enjoy this movie as well. And of course, a much younger Angela Landsbury is very fun to watch as she and Kay Kendall play off each othr as highly competitive but exceedingly polite social rivals.

This is a great one to watch with your girlfriends, or your mother/daughter, or to just curl up on the coach with some good ice cream on a Sunday afternoon. Being a movie from the 1950s, it's very tame, with no course language or nudity, and the sexual content doesn't go beyond a few kisses, though there are a few implications when Lord & Lady Broadbent speculate on what could be keeping their daughter out so late with her young man.

I'd also recomend it to those who enjoy the subtle dry social wit of the recent movies based on the works of Oscar Wilde: "An Ideal Husband" and "The Importance of Being Earnest".

Imagine Patty Duke going to live with Cathy's parents in London, instead of vice versa, and you have the idea for the movie - straight down to the Frankie Avalon type with whom she falls in love. It is a great movie to look at - incredible furnishings, rich clothes, impeccable manners. It is enjoyable mainly due to Harrison and Kendall (whose pratfalls and facial expressions are worth the price alone). When Dee and Saxon are on screen, it is frankly drippy. All the viewer's sympathies are with the "morally wrong" Kay Kendall who simply steals the movie. It also has a great "wouldn't I like that life?" quality to it all. The world of debutantes and balls, of secretaries arranging all one's social appointments, of unthinking wealth more than sufficient for this lifetime, yet not impinging on one's enjoyment of all. The movie has a wonderful politically unaware feel to it - sort of "Before the Fall" of old mores and manners and dress of the mid-60s. It's not non-stop laughter, but amusing all the way - and you'll remember Kendall and Harrison's charm.

"THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE" is the kind of champagne that is unfrotunately no longer served. Based on the London stage hit, this American made (MGM) production brings together the elements of both a young American star (Sandra Dee) and two consummate British performers, Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall, married in this film and also at the time. With support from a handsome John Saxon and a delightful Angela Lansbury, as a cat-in-tweeds, this film serves as testament to the stylish, sophistcated comedies of manners which are staples of the British theatre and cinema. More than anything, this film is proof of Kay Kendall's talents as a comedienne who turns every gesture into a witty ballet of wit and grace, and as a reminder that her death in 1959 robbed the cinema of one of its brightest talents. This film recalls a time when pictures were lovely to look at, delightful to the ear, and aspired to be nothing more than charming distraction. While Dee and Saxon are the weaker links, Kendall and Harrison are to be studied as examples of impeccable timing and chemistry.

Beware folks of sellers trying to make money from this newly restored dvd--its only s19.99 from official warner Bros web site.Avoid in particular buying the VHS from "books 11574" also known as "DJS books 1"-they have a pirating factory going with pathetic copies of this film with photocopied artwork DON'T GET SHAFTED

Don't be misled by the title, the true star of this airy souffle is the debutante's stepmother impeccably portrayed by the exquisite Kay Kendall. She romps away with the picture, her then husband debonair, bemused Rex Harrison running a close second, with a slyly feline Angela Lansbury coming up third.

The two stars and their director were on a hot streak when they collaborated on this movie. Kay Kendall had taken Hollywood by storm the previous year in the movie musical "Les Girls", more than holding her own with co-star Gene Kelly. Rex Harrison had just finished a triumphant two year Broadway run as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady", and was preparing to take it to London after making this film. The versatile director Vincente Minnelli had just completed what would be judged the pinnacle of his distinguished career, the original movie musical "GiGi". All were at the top of their form, and their combined efforts in "The Reluctant Debutante" would add further luster to their reputations.

The film itself is an adaption by it's author William Douglas Home of his play of the same title that had been modestly successful in both the West End and Broadway. This is one of the last true examples of a fading theatrical genre called the drawing room comedy, that had been extremely popular from the 1920's through the 1950's and was exemplied by playwrights such as Noel Coward, Terence Rattigan, John van Druten, Phillip Barry and S.N. Behrman. Such plays were usually very erudite, extremely witty, peopled primarily by a monied aristocracy in very cosmopolitan settings, i.e. London, Paris, New York. This film fulfills all these requirments wonderfully. It will beguile you with it's sunny charms, and leave you with a wry, nostalgic smile at it's conclusion over the fact that this type of film is now sadly nonexistent.

In transferring his play from stage to screen Home made one small but key concession to accomodate the American market. The title character, Jane Broadbent, was skillfully changed from a young English girl to a young American girl. This actually was a plot improvement since an American teenager would be totally unfamiliar with the ins and outs of British society. Jane,(played by up and coming starlet Sandra Dee)comes from America, where she lives with her mother, to visit her British father, Jimmy Broadbent(Harrison)and his new young wife, Sheila (Kendall)in London. As the family is about to leave the airport they encounter Sheila's gossipy older cousin Mabel(Lansbury),and her debutante daughter Clarissa(Diane Clare). They all gather for cocktails and tea at the Broadbent's flat where Mabel's tactless prattling on about the excitement of the season coupled with her misplaced pity that Sheila was prevented from making her debut into society due to the advent of World War II, goads Sheila into the lie that Jane will have a London season and make her debut. With an unflagging zest, energy and charm Sheila plunges the unwilling Jimmy and Jane into a whirlwind of neverending balls and other social occasions. The end result of all this launching into society is to snag a potential husband. Jane is initially bored until at her first ball, after an interminable round of dances with stodgy young Englishmen, she is introduced by her parents to a young, handsome American, David Parkson(John Saxon). She promptly starts to fall in love, but complications follow when Sheila and Jimmy learn via Mabel of course that David has a scandalous reputation (unjustly) as a wolf. All is resolved to everyone's satisfaction with some sparkling dialogue and a twinkling sense of humor along the way.

The setting of course is London in 1958, and director Minnelli's deft artistic touch and camera work, assisted by superb art direction and scenic design are so perfectly wrought that one would never guess it was all actually filmed in Paris due to Harrison's British tax situation. Visually this is a film to delight the eye from the opening aerial shots of London while the credits roll to the Broadbent's elegantly decorated Mayfair flat which is flawless down to the wallpaper. The renowned Parisian couturier, Pierre Balmain, designed beautifully stylish costumes for the Misses Kendall, Lansbury and Clare, although oddly not for Miss Dee, whose wardrobe was designed by MGM house designer Helen Rose.

Rex Harrison was a marvelously skilled light comedian, right up there with Cary Grant, his facial expressions as he reacts to the farcial going ons, hilarious. The interplay with Miss Kendall is so adroit and sure, that is a shame they never got to make another film together, they could have been as memorable a screen couple as Myrna Loy and William Powell or Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The sometimes undervalued, (in films at least) Angela Lansbury sketches in with sure stokes, the vain, self absorbed, chatterbox, Mabel, who as Jimmy puts it "...her tongue runs on atomic energy!" The four juveniles Sandra Dee and John Saxon, Diane Clare and Peter Myers(who plays the dreary but horny David Fenner who pursues buth Jane and Clarissa) are adequete and except for the last likeable.

However, it's Kay Kendall's film in the final analyis, and she is an enchantress, like Lorelei, or the fabled sirens on the rocks, drawing you in under her spell. She is quicksilver in her mercurial shifts of mood, and a sure mistress of physical comedy. There is one scene where she enters a room, registers a masterful double take, while her body reacts as if her legs had turned to rubber descending in a loopy spiral as she sinks to the stair steps. Besides having such a unique talent, she was also tall, slender, and lovely to look at, with a charming voice to match. When she burst upon the scene in "Les Girls", more that one reviewer compared to her to an earlier renowned glamorous cinema comedienne, Carole Lombard. Unfortunately they would both share more than a strong comic talent, both would die tragically young at the height of their careers, Carole Lombard in a plane crash, Kay Kendall of leukemia a scant year after this film was released. She was like a shooting star in the sky tracing a shimmering silver trajectory before the darkness. Her good friend, Vivien Leigh, another glorious star who departed too soon, spoke these words written by Terence Rattigan at her memorial service "...It was as if she had a premonition that the gift of life which she relished so greatly would not be hers for very long-with such intensity and gaiety and fervour did she pack every minute of her stay on earth" You will see all of those qualities and more in this film, it's Kay Kendall's very best and her epitaph. Now let's get it on DVD where it belongs in a crisp, clear letterbox format! Although her resume is brief, try after this "Genevieve", "Les Girls" and her last "Once More, with Feeling", you won't be disappointed.

Being a fan of London, old movies and Rex Harrison, I figured I could not go wrong with this movie. I was right! The humor stands on it's own to feet for the audience of the 21st century. In fact, my sister and I recently watched "What a Girl Wants." After discussing somewhat during the movie, we realized we both thought that it had to be influenced by "The Reluctant Debutante." When the credits began to roll, the first one said Based on "The Reluctant Debutante!"

The humor can be subtle or a slap in the face obvious. The acting is very well done. Each performer does a magnificent job in his or her role. Talk about a classic!

I watched this movie as a teenager and loved it then - I still love it today and am looking forward to showing it to my nieces. It just goes to prove that maybe parents in England back then had it a little tougher than even we do today! My heart and hangover remedies go out to Rex Harrison in this film.

It's the start of the "Season" in London, and Jimmy Broadbent (Rex Harrison) is expecting a visit from his long-estranged teen daughter Jane (Sandra Dee), who now lives full-time with her mother in the States. Eager to introduce Jane to his new wife Sheila (Kay Kendall) and their society friends, Sheila instead takes matters into her own hands when, at the spur of the moment, she arranges for Jane to become a debutante.

The "Season" in London involves girls of a certain age attending endless parties and balls, meeting all the right eligible young men and making their official debut into polite society. Everything goes smoothly for the Broadbents' plans for Jane, until Sheila unknowlingly introduces Jane to well-known "scoundrel" David Parkson (John Saxon), a drummer in one of the oft-booked debutante ball bands. In addition to the drums, David has a reputation for playing fast and loose with his conquests - and the Broadbents, not wishing for Jane to become the latest fodder for serial gossip Mabel Claremont (Angela Lansbury), try to quash the budding romance.

Based on the stage hit by William Douglas-Home (which originally starred Wilfred Hyde White, Celia Johnson and Anna Massey) THE RELUCTANT DEBUBANTE was decidedly old-fashioned even by 1958 when it was first released. It doesn't stretch the romantic comedy genre, nor is it one of director Vincente Minnelli's flashier assignments. The charm of THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE lies within the sublime casting of real-life husband and wife Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall, who both breeze through the proceedings with panache, throwing off the script's bon mots with great enthusiasm. One of the heartbreaks in watching the film is knowing that this was one of Kay Kendall's final roles before dying of cancer.

Co-stars John Saxon and Sandra Dee are both attractive and solid in their roles; they'd be paired up again a couple of years later in the splashy murder melodrama "Portrait in Black". Amazingly, Sandra Dee was only 14 years old when she appeared in this film! Angela Lansbury is all tweed and satin as Kendall's gossipy best pal. A delightful movie.

This DVD-R release from the Warner Archive program is reasonable enough, with good colour and stereo sound. There's a noticeable amount of print damage (despite this disc appearing under the "Remastered" banner of the Warner Archive collection), but it's easily forgiveable. The only extra is the trailer.

As John Saxon Fan it was a must for me to get this movie on DVD. His Co-Stars are Angelea Lansbury, Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall and Sandra Dee as his love interest.
Its a nice and funny comedy (I would rate the movie with 5 stars) which lives specially with Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall and good dialogues.

DVD:

The picture quality is ok but by far not very good or perfect. The soundtrack sounds like to be in stereo (the product scription on the DVD cover write: mono).

Well, allways at Warner Archives, the biggest MINUS point: no subtitle.
* * * For the 21 Century a big shame * * *

I first watched this on the Television in the mid '90s, just because it happened to be on, but going back to it on video - not available here in UK, but bought from some punter in CA USA the other day - made me realise that it was not just much better than I remembered, but that there were other layers which added a great deal to the hilarity.

One of the best films for a family audience - good for any age over 6. Sandra Dee is dreamy, but Kay Kendal is a hoot, with looks to boot, and comic timing with the best of them. Rex H. plays his part to a T.