Written by Oscar Wilde, the credits roll, and it starts out as a droll period piece. Within a few minutes, we are at the fancy gathering with Mrs. Chevely (Paulette Goddard), as she cleverly spars with her old schoolmate who happens to be the hostess, and other guests. We quickly find out what games she is up to, and things pick up a bit. One annoying thing was Miss Mabel's (Glynis Johns) screeching, high pitched voice, but fortunately she doesn't spend much time on screen. Strong performances by Goddard and C. Aubrey Smith as Earl of Caversham, who always played the grand old uncle, the grandfather, the captain, etc. Personally, I liked Goddard's earlier stuff (The Women, Dictator, and a bunch she made with Bob Hope.) "Husband" would be Alexander Korda's last film as director, although he DID write and produce several more films. Michael Wilding, (one of Liz Taylor's many husbands...) plays Viscount Goring. This was remade in 1998 with Sadie Frost and Jonathan Firth. Starts slowly, gets better as it goes along. Technicolor.
Review of An Ideal Husband
