L'honorable Monsieur Sans-Gêne

As the shared horrific experience of the Second World War was coming to an end, the last thing people wanted to see was the amusing misadventures of an over-privileged, work shy toff. Instead of a comedy, we get to see the grim consequences our hero's dissolute lifestyle.

Were it not for an intelligent witty script and Rex Harrison being so charming and likeable, this could have been a dark and moralistic sermon. The talented Frank Lauder and Sidney Gilliat team achieve the perfect balance here. They take a serious morality tale and transform it into a light, amusing upbeat drama which was necessary to make the film's message acceptable to an audience suffering the hell of the last six years.

Had this been made a decade earlier it would have been very different. To us watching now it would probably be funnier but it would have lacked the depth and gritty realism. As it transpired, you can now sympathise with Rex Harrison's character, you feel you want everything to work out for him, you want him to realise that he's a good man but you still don't like him.

It's a long film, beautiful Lilli Palmer isn't in it for long enough and the first half does meander quite a bit but nevertheless it's very easy watching, it's entertaining and you feel like you're watched something worthwhile.

It is never an easy thing to watch a cad and bounder on film for 2 hours and come away feeling satisfied. But his film manages to do that because of it's wit and wonderful cast. Harrison is superb and Lili Palmer is at her very best. I had not seen this for 65 years and yet I remember it as though it was last week. One very odd goof in the film takes place in a car with Rex being driven by the character Jenny. He opens the door to get out before the car stops. He exits while the scenery goes whizzing by. One might expect to see him in a heap on the sidewalk. All in all, a lovely film with nice light touches and some very serious drama. GOOD SHOW

Rex Harrison plays a young man, Vivian, who thinks primarily of himself. He's somewhat witty, sort of daring, extremely unreliable. Though his character is tempered slightly as time goes on, as written the character is very obnoxious.

I didn't go to Oxford, as Vivian does for a time. But I went to an Ivy League school and I knew many people like him: showoffs who thumbed their nose at convention but wanted, and generally had, the money convention brings. I was transported back not just to the time of the film but also a few decades back to the wise guy cutups of my own college years.

Harrison does a good job. Indeed, he seems to be playing himself, though that was doubtless just fine acting. I like him in most of what I've seen, particularly in "Anna and the King of Siam" and the brilliant "Unfaithfully Yours." The rest of the cast is superb, too: His real-life wife of the time, Lilli Palmer is very charming. Playing an Austrian girl, she reminded me of Luise Rainer, sans music. Griffith Jones plays his ostensibly more stuffy friend. To me, he is infinitely more appealing in all regards. And Margaret Johnston is beauty and charm itself as Vivian's father's secretary.

It would be interesting to show this on a double-bill with "Look Back in Anger." That was written as an antidote to the "mustn't forget about tea" movies and especially plays that had preceded it.

Yet Jimmy Porter, its protagonist, comes across today just as badly as Harrison's character does. The acting in that film, too, is marvelous. But at the core of each is a character who is not just a boor: Jimmy and Vivian are really creeps, though we are not intended to think them so.

I cannot praise THE RAKES PROGRESS too highly. It has a witty script, extremely fine performances, a good William Alwyn score (including the famous Calypso he wrote for the film), good-looking sets by Norman Arnold and handsome cinematography by Wilkie Cooper. It told a good story as well.

Yes, Rex Harrison was quite a bounder. At the time of the film's release some critics were disappointed in how the character's life suddenly changed at the film's end - a valid objection which, had the script inserted at least one "transitional" episode, might have made it more believable. However I find this a minor point, having taken great pleasure in such a beautifully made production. It gave Harrison a good opportunity to widen his acting range considerably. Hitherto only light comedy roles were offered him but in RAKE'S PROGRESS we see some serious sly villainy. It was this performance that took him to Hollywood, by the way. A special bouquet to Lilli Palmer for another sensitive, touching performance. She was, without doubt,one of the finest actresses on the screen.

Highly recommended.

The Rake's Progress (as this film is known in England) tells the story of a spoiled, rich public school boy who cannot settle in peace time but finds his role during the war by sacrificing himself for the war effort. The name of the film was changed for US audiences, according to Director Gilliatt, because 'the distributors thought the original one might lead audiences to expect something about gardening'!!

Your enjoyment of this movie will depend on your reaction to Rex Harrison in the lead role of Vivian. If you see him as a fun loving bounder, you'll have fun. If, on the other hand you find him an annoying, faithless, womanising bastard then you'll find 124 minutes verrrrry long.

I started off in the first camp, particularly during the scenes when he is based in a coffee plantation in Latin America and the amusing conversations with his elderly aunt. However the charm soon wears off as he cuckolds an old university friend, uses a beautiful jewish refugee to pay off his debts and causes his own father's death in a drink driving accident.

Does he find redemption in the end? Well, this depends on your interpretation of the final scenes. If you buy the moral that he has now found his place then the film has some meaning. I found the redemptive ending tacked on - reminiscent of the way Hawkes was forced to insert the criticism of gangsters in Scarface.

There are some good performances, particularly from Godfrey Tearle as Vivian's father and Margaret Johnson as the Secretary. Rex acts as Rex just like in Blithe Spirit, Doctor Doolittle, My Fair Lady etc....

If you've nothing better to do on a wet Sunday afternoon, give this film a look and post your views.