An Ideal Husband (1999)

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful Government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed.... See full summary »

Director:

Oliver Parker

Writers:

Oscar Wilde (play), Oliver Parker (screenplay)

Stars:

Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Peter Vaughan

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Vaughan	...	Phipps
Rupert Everett	...	Lord Arthur Goring
Minnie Driver	...	Miss Mabel Chiltern
Cate Blanchett	...	Lady Gertrude Chiltern
Ben Pullen	...	Tommy Trafford
Marsha Fitzalan	...	Countess
Julianne Moore	...	Mrs. Laura Cheveley
Lindsay Duncan	...	Lady Markby
Neville Phillips	...	Mason
John Wood	...	Lord Caversham
Jeremy Northam	...	Sir Robert Chiltern
Nickolas Grace	...	Vicomte de Nanjac
Simon Russell Beale	...	Sir Edward
Anna Patrick	...	Miss Danvers
Delia Lindsay	...	Lady Basildon

Storyline

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful Government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Sir Robert turns for help to his friend Lord Goring, an apparently idle philanderer and the despair of his father. Goring knows the lady of old, and, for him, takes the whole thing pretty seriously.

---

Plot Keywords:

flirting | social satire | blackmail | character says i love you | bachelor | 

---

Taglines:

He just doesn't know it yet.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief sensuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [United States] Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un mari idéal

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£492,309 (UK) (16 April 1999)

Gross:

$18,535,191 (USA) (1 October 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arts Council of England, Canal+, Fragile Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At Lord Goring's Club, a background character says "Come now, Bunbury!" Bunbury is an imaginary sick friend invented by a character in "The Importance of Being Earnest" as an excuse to visit the country. That play is performed in the background in several scenes of the movie.

---

Goofs

Lord Goring's jacket is buttoned, then unbuttoned, then buttoned again as he explains Lady Chiltern's letter to Lord Chiltern, Mabel and Lady Chiltern herself near the end of the film.

---

Quotes

Laura: Do you know, Gertrude, I don't mind your talking morality a bit. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike. You dislike me, I am quite aware of that, and I have always detested you.

---

Crazy Credits

The credits list Oliver Parker, the director, as playing "Bunbury", one of the gentlemen that is seen playing cards with Lord Goring in the Men's Club when Lord Chiltern arrives. Bunbury is also a never-seen character in "The Importance of Being Earnest", the play which is performed in the background of several scenes of this film.

---

Connections

Version of An Ideal Husband (1947)

User Reviews

Another 'modernisation' goes wrong.

One of the principal sources of humour in Wilde's plays comes from pricking at the inflated egos, pious humbug and ignorance of the upper classes. There is always a Wildean character to reverse a clicheed expression or invert conventional 'wisdom.' Unfortunately, by stripping most of his characters of their stiff formality and rigid social code, the writer and director have removed the butt of the joke and Wilde's comments on absurdity are left without a punchline. The attempt to work in anachronistic social relevance leaves us with a set of feeble characters who fall in love with each other for no obvious reason. Because Wilde's language has been sterilised the actors have to use mugging to express the personalities Wilde created. Result, a charmless and dated 'political' drama as credible as a Jeffery Archer novel. Gertrude is insecure and fretful where she should be smug and priggish- Mabel is arch where she should be caustic- Poor Oscar - gets no 'Oscar'!