On Approval (1944)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Clive Brook

Writers:

Frederick Lonsdale (play) and
Clive Brook (writer)

Release Date:

22 May 1944 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Women who are tired of their boyfriends come up with a new idea: exchange them. |

Plot Keywords:

Victorian Era | Comedy Of Manners | Scotland | Heiress | Farce

Cast

Beatrice Lillie	...	Maria Wislack
Clive Brook	...	George
Googie Withers	...	Helen Hale
Roland Culver	...	Richard Halton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
O.B. Clarence	...	Dr. Graham
E.V.H. Emmett	...	Narrator
Laurence Hanray	...	Parkes
Elliott Mason	...	Mrs. McCosh
Mollie Munks	...	Jeanne
Hay Petrie	...	Landlord
Marjorie Rhodes	...	Cook

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

IP-Verity

Quotes:

George: She's not crying because I said she was forty-one. She's crying because she is forty-one.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Case Against the 20% Federal Admissions Tax on Motion Picture Theatres (1953)

A Very Funny Film

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.