A Woman of Distinction

Rosalind Russell plays Dr. Susan Middlecott, a brilliant professor and dean of a college for women. However, her father (Edmund Gwenn) is concerned that she's all work and needs a man in her life. So, when the newspaper comes up with the incorrect notion that she's having a relationship with a professor (Ray Milland), the father makes the most of it...encouraging and pulling strings to try to get them together.

While Milland, Gwenn and Russell are all wonderful actors, here they are burdened with a bad script. The essential idea isn't bad (though some feminists today will balk at the notion that a woman needs a man), it is executed poorly. There are two main problems. Towards the end, the film relies too much on slapsticky sorts of laughs...with Rosalind on the receiving end again and again. Additionally, the whole relationship between the professors goes from hostile to head over heels so abruptly and unexpectedly that it made no sense at all. It's a shame...the film should have been a lot better.

The two main actors, Ray Milland and Rosalind Russell are such fine professionals and give beautiful, consistent performances.

Russell goes full out with the slapstick -- she's courageous and commits on stage. A model for all actors afraid to go there. Such simiiarities to Lucille Ball.

The music had great accompaniment by the acting, punched certain points and the actors followed suit as well. Ray Milland's facial expressions are study in authentic reaction.

Funny moments; quick pace; and very good performances. The challenge was with the writing. It's just No - no- no - no - until a flip in the last 30 seconds. So the writing seems one note. There is no found love lost love found love. It's just no love, then a flip. That can be tiring for the audience.

It's predictable, but solid. Two fine actors make it very soiid.

With Russell and Milland in the leads I was expecting a bit more from A Woman of Distinction, but unfortunately was met with disappointment only a short while into the what seemed like a very long running time (was actually only 85 minutes. I do enjoy Russell but here she is left to go full force slapstick antics but there's just no direction or purpose to most of the proceedings. The story was probably outdated even for 1950 and has most definitely not held up to the test of time. If you have some genuine curiosity regarding A Woman of Distinction then by all means check it out and see what you think, but just manage your expectations.

Major slapstick is the highlight of "A Woman of Distinction," a 1950 film starring Rosalind Russell, Ray Milland, Edmund Gwenn and Janis Carter. Russell has one of her uptight, cold women roles so often depicted in the '40s. You know the one, no room or time for romance until a man melts her down. The melter here is Ray Milland.

Russell is the dean of a girls' school in New England; Milland plays a visiting British astronomer. Will she succumb to his charms? Sure, after she beats him with her handbag, and she's sprayed with water, smeared with mud, and falls out of chairs. Wouldn't you? The laughs are all supposed to come from the slapstick; in truth, there's not too much of a script, and what's there is predictable and derivative. The cast is likable, and Russell proves she can do just about anything. In the end, it's not much of a movie.

A Woman of Distinction (1950) is a quirky romcom that is heavier on the comedy due to Rosalind Russell's willingness to throw herself out there for her audience. The "meet cute" between Russell and the still dashing and debonair Ray Milland is thwarted by their instant dislike and impatience with one another. She has an important job as the dean of a college. He is a lecturer on tour who happens to get mixed up with Russell and ultimately causes her job to be in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Edmund Gwenn, in a delightful role as Russell's father, plays matchmaker, thus making it harder to easily iron out the plot twists that intertwine the two main characters causing problems at every turn.

Russell rivals Luculle Ball in what she'll do for a laugh. It works and this is a cute movie that is pure escapist pleasure. It's not one of my very favorites, but I enjoy it enough to watch it whenever it comes on TCM.