French Without Tears (1940)

Director:

Anthony Asquith

Writers:

Ian Dalrymple, Terence Rattigan,

Stars:

Ray Milland, Ellen Drew, Janine Darcey

Cast

Cast overview:
Ray Milland	...	Alan Howard
Ellen Drew	...	Diana Lake
Janine Darcey	...	Jacqueline Maingot
David Tree	...	Chris Neilan
Roland Culver	...	Cmdr. Bill Rogers
Guy Middleton	...	Brian Curtis
Kenneth Morgan	...	Kenneth Lake
Margaret Yarde	...	Marianne
Toni Gable	...	Chi-Chi
Jim Gérald	...	Professor Maingot
Mantovani	...	Himself - Orchestra Leader
Stella Roberts
Peters Sisters

Storyline

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Taglines:

How to win a man...in 4 easy lessons!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cautela com as Mulheres

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Two Cities Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 67 min (shortened)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Ultraviolet)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Connections

Version of BBC Play of the Month: French Without Tears (1976)

User Reviews

Fey British Comedy

I am using the term 'fey' to describe a film whose time may have passed and which will seem to many outdated in 2012. I don't feel the premise is workable or practical nowadays, and there are few of us left who will appreciate the subtleties and tenor of either the script or the storyline.

Here it is in a nutshell; There are five students at a school for French-speaking located somewhere in France. One is a boy and the others are English gentlemen, two middle-aged and two approaching middle-age. For some reason, the sister of the boy comes for an extended visit. She (Ellen Drew) is a knockout, and all fall head over heels for her and make fools of themselves, trying to outdo one another in various situations. There is some humorous dialogue sprinkled throughout as well as some pratfalls and slapstick that are telegraphed and obvious.

Ray Milland is very appealing and tries to stay above it all, and in one scene Roland Culver does one of the best impersonations of a drunk as has ever been on the screen, Arthur Housman and Jack Norton notwithstanding. The picture strives to be likable, and I did like it, being an old-fashioned sort of guy.

I compromised and rated it a six; Five for today's audiences and seven for those of us with long, seasoned memories.