The Grass Is Greener (1960)

Director:

Stanley Donen

Writers:

Hugh Williams (screenplay) and
Margaret Vyner (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 February 1961 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Variety is the spice of life!

Plot:

Victor and Hillary are down on their luck to the point that they allow tourists to take guided tours of their castle...

Plot Keywords:

Color In Title | Beautiful Woman | Marriage | Independent Film | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Victor Rhyall, Earl
Deborah Kerr	...	Lady Hilary Rhyall
Robert Mitchum	...	Charles Delacro
Jean Simmons	...	Hattie Durant
Moray Watson	...	Trevor Sellers, the Butler

Runtime:

104 min | UK:80 min (VHS version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #19674) | Finland:S | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video re-rating) (1999) | UK:U (video rating) (1986) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Lacock Abbey, Lacock, Wiltshire, England, UK

Company:

Grandon Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Cary Grant refused to wear a smoking jacket for one scene, believing that if the audience saw him dressed that way they would immediately lose sympathy with his character. The director later said that a type of old-fashioned comedy died that day.

Quotes:

Trevor Sellers, the Butler: I wonder if I might have a word with you Mylord.
Victor Rhyall, Earl: So do I, so we're both probably right. Now what's the matter, Sellers?
Trevor Sellers, the Butler: As I told you Mylord, I haven't any work to do.
Victor Rhyall, Earl: What about your novel, why aren't you working at that?
Trevor Sellers, the Butler: I'm stuck badly. Nearly tore the whole thing up last night.
Victor Rhyall, Earl: Oh now now, you mustn't do that! What's the trouble?
Trevor Sellers, the Butler: Almost certainly the basic trouble is myself. I'm fundamentally happy and contented. That's bad enough of course. But on top of that, I'm normal. And that's fatal.
Victor Rhyall, Earl: Oh. You mean you prefer to be unhappy and abnormal.
Trevor Sellers, the Butler: Of course! You see, I want to be a success, and to be a success, one must at least start off by being modern. And like yourself Mylord, I'm not. It means I have no feeling of insecurity or frustration. No despair.
Victor Rhyall, Earl: And that's essential?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Boy Meets World: The Grass Is Always Greener (#3.12)" (1996)

very British, very arch, very enjoyable

This delightful film's script is a descendant of the sort of archly witty portrayals of British upper-class life that came from the pens of Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward (one of whose songs serves as musical lead-in, and at least one of whose tunes ["Mad About the Boy" - listen for it] serves as background music to comment on the action). The atmosphere of this sort of comedy may be a bit foreign to American tastes (the whole topic of infidelity is discussed in such a civilized and gentlemanly fashion among the parties- Stiff Upper Lip and all that - where Americans would be screaming at each other and going for weaponry) but as a devotee of British drama I enjoyed the movie hugely. It's a stellar cast - everyone shines, right down to Moray Watson in the small but delicious part of the befuddled butler Sellers. Jean Simmons is especially enjoyable in her out-of-character portrayal as the outspokenly vampish Hattie. Despite opinions below to the contrary, the incomparable Cary Grant fills the part of this down-at-the-heels English Lord like old brandy fills a crystal decanter. The sumptuous setting of the baronial manor and the high production values make the film beautiful to look at, to boot. (The fact that the unfortunate Lord is forced to open his manor to paying visitors to support his lifestyle is based on the historical truth of the confiscatory tax policies imposed on the British hereditary gentry by post-WWII Labor governments; everyone is entitled to their own opinions on these policies, but be assured the film makes no political comment).

It does stretch the imagination a tad that Victor could treat the whole issue of his wife's infidelity - going on right in front of his nose - in such a dispassionate manner, but that is a characteristic of this genre. Further, Grant manages to convince us that, beneath his outer imperturability, his wife's disloyalty has pained him deeply and he could not stand to lose her.

This is a not-well-known film whose appeal might be a bit specialized, but I think it's a minor gem. And I could not omit mentioning the charming opening credits with their bevy of delightfully cavorting babies.