On Approval

Wow....what a surprise....

I bought this on DVD sight unseen, due to the fact that it stars Beatrice Lillie in one of the very few films she ever made.

She's absolutely wonderful playing a rather unpleasant, grumpy women. Similarly, Clive Brook, who capped his long film career by writing, directing and starring in this outrageous farce.

I won't give away the plot, but I can't imagine a better example of how well a well known play can be adapted for the screen.

If you can't live without the Criterion DVD of "The Importance Of Being Earnest", then this movie should also be on your shelf.

Get it....before it disappears....

On Approval is an extremely amusing comedy of upper class British manners. It is wickedly malicious without being mean-spirited. The four leads play off each other flawlessly. Unfortunately, it seems to be one of those forgotten gems. The DVD release awhile back may have given it some new recognition. (And the DVD transfer is first rate.)

Clive Brook, who also wrote and directed the film, is priceless as an aristocrat who finds it entirely reasonable to take his pleasures at the expense of others. He was a major star in the Thirties, but made only one more movie, The List of Adrian Messenger, after this one. At 76 he proved he still could hold his own against all comers, including George C. Scott.

First of all, the pictorial quality of the print on this 1943 comedy is amazingly good; the diction of the actors speaking the King's English is also impeccable, and on that level alone this film is watchable--but much more for me; it's a wartime English film, obviously done on the cheap--but done very well and featuring top quality stage actors who delight in the clever quip and character-driven drollery.

A wee bit of story: a demanding woman decides to take her prospective hubby to an island retreat to see if they can properly relate before they marry--two friends tag along. Now largely forgotten actor Clive Brook (a lead in Dietrich's Shanghai Express) directed and stars as an effete snob who has lessons to learn, and the impeccably hilarious, viper-tongued Beatrice Lille, who made far too few movies, is showcased at her raised-eyebrow best. This is an old-fashioned drawing room comedy, adult in nature, literate in approach, and short, sweet and delightful.

This is a send up about British society people set in the 1890's that not only keeps your interest but gets progressively funnier with time. Beatrice Lillie plays Maria and Googie Withers plays Helen, with Maria deciding to go for a trial marriage for a month's holiday in Scotland with Richard. George, a Duke, tags along and through a series of planned misadventures, all four of them end up in the same castle on an island they have to row to to reach. This film must have been a breath of fresh air in 1943, as the war was still going on. Sixty five years later, it is still fresh. I had a great time watching it, it is a well made farce, and the acting is terrific. If you like British comedy at all, this is absolutely essential.

This film of Frederick Lonsdale's play is one of my favorite movies of all time. Not because it breaks new artistic ground--it's simply as close to being perfectly cast and perfectly executed as one can imagine. It's Bea Lillie's most important work on film (and as far as I can tell, except for "Thoroughly Modern Millie", the only thing of hers available on home video....will someone PLEASE bring out "Doctor Rhythm"?), and it really does give us a sense of why she was so famous in her day. The amazing Clive Brook is her perfect foil, and Googie Withers is beautiful and utterly charming.

"On Approval" is full of small pleasures that, because of their perfection, are unforgettable. Who can forget Bea Lillie's perfect delivery of "You will find the dinghy by the jetty."? The bickering of Lillie and Brook ("Maria, I don't want to speak to you, but I must." "I don't want to speak to you and I won't!") .....Googie Withers refusing a proposal of marriage by asking the color of her eyes.....Bea Lillie doing vocal exercises at the piano....I could go on endlessly. It's exquisite fun.