Her Man Gilbey

I first saw this a couple of years ago.I found it difficult to concentrate on it,it was that dull.On tv short time ago.I made another effort to watch it.Stayed the course but is still dreadfully dull.

Considering that it uses as its backdrop the mounting militarisation of Britain between the summer of 1939 and the beginning of 1943 this is a fantastically inconsequential and unfocused piece of escapist fluff.

A sequel in name only to 'French Without Tears' (1939), based on Terence Rattigan's West End hit of 1936, which had got the newly formed company Two Cities Films on its feet five years earlier; they prevailed upon Rattigan to lend his name to this occasionally risqué nonsense utilising material which had been left over by Rattigan when he recently completed his play 'When the Sun Shines' in 1943. If you can't be bothered to keep track of the elaborate ebb and flow of romantic entanglements that flit before you, there's always the usual collection of familiar faces in supporting roles to enjoy, particularly cherishable contributions coming from Peggy Cummins, Margaret Rutherford and Roland Culver.

A tedious, humorless film, interspersed awkwardly with random war-time propaganda.

A posh girl falls in/out/in love with the butler, depending on his social ranking, as he moves upwards through the social classes via promotion in military rank. The audience has to suffer through an hour of "will they, won't they". You will find yourself hoping the characters will be blitzed just to put a stop to their terrible dialogue and hopeless acting.

There are many small side plots that are not resolved satisfactorily, such as an interpreters struggle with citizenship papers. random war propaganda is inserted at various points such as the scene where the aunt has a gas-mask fitting, and an awkward montage of the main character doing some very unrealistic military training.

This is a quintessentially English film scripted in the main by Terence Rattigan, arguably one of the great English playwrights. He wrote the play, made into a film called ' French Without Tears ' and this in a way is a loose follow up, and the American title is both trite and ridiculous. It is a wonderful and subtle comedy on class relations beginning to break down in the UK just before and after WW2. Penelope Dudley-Ward is good in her mood shifts and changes of feeling in her relationship with her butler played by Michael Wilding. The cast is excellent with Lili Palmer stealing every scene she is in, and there are others in the cast including Margaret Rutherford and Roland Culver who uphold the spirit of pre-war England in a manner both farcical and strangely endearing. I love it but it needs work and an understanding of the social politics of the time.

Primula Rollo who plays the 2nd AT went on to marry David Niven . In 1946 she died in a freak accident at Tyrone Power 's house aged 26 . She fell down cellar steps during a game of hide and seek . Broke Niven's heart .