The Perfect Woman

What a pity. This film could have been a little gem. But it had an inferior director with no vision, Bernard Knowles, and was totally ruined by almost maniacally unrestrained over-acting by Nigel Patrick and Stanley Holloway, who are about as subtle as a pair of howling hyenas. The story had great promise. It concerns an absent-minded genius who has invented a robot which looks like a woman, and in fact is made to resemble his pretty young niece, charmingly played by Patricia Roc. The niece ends up impersonating the girl robot, to what should have been hilarious effect. However, none of it comes off. The genius is brilliantly played by Miles Malleson, with some terrific comic moments, and there is another superb supporting performance by the always-reliable Irene Handl. But they cannot save the film, alas. If only Nigel Patrick and Stanley Holloway had been replaced by robots, it might have worked.