Robert J. Maxwell I guess there's a little bit of "I Love Lucy" in every domestic comedy. How could there not be with such limited material. In this instance, Rex Harrison is married to Kay Kendall. Sandra Dee is Harrison's American daughter by his first wife. Dee visits the couple in London and Kendall decides on a coming out party for her during the season. (Evidently these cotillions or whatever they are have a "season", like grouse, because they all seem to come in a rush.) The problem is that, at one of the parties, Dee meets the darkly handsome young John Saxon and they fall for each other. Saxon is evidently nothing more than a bongo player in the band -- hardly suitable for the daughter of Lord and Lady Broadbent.The story adheres to all the conventional values of the period. By the end, when Dee and Saxon finally have their embrace unfettered by the conditions of social class, he turns out to be the new Duke of Positano. It would hardly do for him to be nothing more than an itinerant drummer.But the film is a success, in that it's usually funny and sometimes funny as hell. (There's a weak spot in the middle, with eavesdroppers falling farcically in and out of the kitchen.) It's from a play but writer Epstein and director Vincente Minelli have effectively opened it up. Your attention is politely directed to the virtually wordless ten-minute montage in which Harrison and Kendall are forced to attend party after party, each indistinguishable from the other. Everyone dashes around in tuxedos and evening gowns, chattering madly, while Harrison -- fiercely bored but still extremely polite -- heads towards the champagne. The parties keep him up until early in the morning and he suffers from daily hangovers and lack of sleep. Harrison is so confused that at one party, instead of Lord and Lady Broadbent, he has himself announced as "Broad and Bently Laidlaw" or something. Americans of a certain class have their coming out parties too, from the planning of which fathers are ordinarily excluded. One such father, asked about his feeling towards cotillions, put his head in his hands and moaned that they were hideous check-signing ceremonies. (That's not in the movie; it's in a documentary.) Dee and Saxon are a little flat, especially John Saxon, although they both look the part. Saxon is a mannequin but Dee at least has her slight shoulders to emphasize her bust, and that fruity voice suggestive of Bayonne. The rest of the cast are superb. Kay Kendall is the elegantly beautiful but dizzy step mother, always anxious, always confused, and with a nose that could serve as a ship's prow. Rex Harrison is superb in this light comedy. He's able to turn a scene with no dialog -- something as simple as Saxon following him into the men's room -- into a ludic gem.The direction and performances would carry this frothy comedy of mix ups even if the sometimes sparkling dialog did not.

donwc1996 I saw this film with my family at Radio City Music Hall in 1958, the year of the film's release and it took the house down. The entire audience burst into applause at the film's conclusion. What simple days those were. Alas, I miss the great days of movies so much I haven't been in a movie theater in 30 years. Thirty years ago people were nice. Not any more. People in movie theaters are just as rude as they are everywhere else. To escape in such a simple delight as this film is all I can do these days aside from my daily solitude which I refer to as ZEN and which occupies most of my time. But occasionally along comes a delightful film like this and I am flooded with happy memories of my youth when everything came up roses. I have such fond memories of Kay Kendall not just in this film but also in Les Girls which was just as marvelous. She was a treasure, taken much too soon.

angelknpenny I have watched this film so many times that I know the dialogue verbatim. Of course, it is not a significant film in the history of cinema, but good luck finding many as charming. For one thing, the cast is amazingly attractive with Kay Kendall off the charts. She is so beautiful and stylish and her comic timing is glorious. The scene with she and husband, Rex Harrison trying to spy on their daughter is priceless and their chemistry is palpable. I find that she died only a short time later and that is really depressing. She was so lovely and funny; modern actresses would suffer by comparison. Only someone like Kate Winslet is anywhere near her league.

rubyslipper As others have noted, the plot is pretty slight, but it's a charming film, thanks to the effortless performances of Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall, and Angela Lansbury. The adults run away with this movie, rather like Beatrice and Benedick own 'Much Ado About Nothing,' even though Hero and Claudio are really the plot. The mile-a-minute dialogue between the older generation outshines the tame goings-on between Sandra Dee (who is completely adorable) and John Saxon (ditto). The reviewer who called Peter Meyers a Mortimer Snerd look-alike was spot on; he's so hilariously boring!But to return to the exquisite Kay Kendall--her comic timing is superb and so is her dress sense! She looks totally fabulous in this film. It's terribly sad to see it and realize that she had not long to live. Film comedy lost a jewel in her.According to the closing credits of 'What Every Girl Wants', 'The Reluctant Debutante' inspired that lamentable movie. Don't watch that; watch this!