Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.

Director:

Bharat Nalluri

Writers:

David Magee (screenplay), Simon Beaufoy (screenplay),

Stars:

Amy Adams, David Alexander, Ciarán Hinds

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amy Adams	...	Delysia
David Alexander	...	Chestnut Seller
Clare Clifford	...	Margery
Christina Cole	...	Charlotte Warren
Stephanie Cole	...	Miss Holt
Beatie Edney	...	Mrs. Brummegan
Shirley Henderson	...	Edythe
Ciarán Hinds	...	Joe
Sarah Kants	...	Annabel Darlington
Sally Leonard	...	Woman at Train Station
Frances McDormand	...	Miss Pettigrew
Katy Murphy	...	Miss Holt's Assistant
Lee Pace	...	Michael
Tom Payne	...	Phil
Tim Potter	...	Nightclub Patron

Storyline

War threatens London as Miss Pettigrew, a destitute governess, filches a client's card from her agency and presents herself at the door. A singer named Delysia Lafosse wants a social secretary as she seeks a West End role by sleeping with a feckless producer in the bed of Nick, a smarmy nightclub owner with whom she also dallies. She ignores Michael, her piano player, who loves her and has tickets for New York on the Queen Mary. Miss Pettigrew's job is to make sure Delysia gets the part. Over 24 hours, Miss Pettigrew is also called upon to help an ambitious and unfaithful fashion editor patch things up with her older fiancé, a lingerie designer. Has Miss Pettigrew found her calling?

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Plot Keywords:

singer | governess | actress | piano | lingerie | 

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Taglines:

Every Woman Will Have Her Day

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some partial nudity and innuendo

Details

Official Sites:

Europa Corp. [fr] Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 August 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Vida num Só Dia

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£90,878 (UK) (15 August 2008)

Gross:

£90,878 (UK) (15 August 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Kudos Productions Ltd., Keylight Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Winifred Watson's book was published the fall of 1938 and it became a smash hit. Plans were in the works for a Hollywood film version starring Billie Burke as Miss Pettigrew, but the start of WWII brought those plans to a halt. The publisher re-released the book in 2000 which lead to it being "found" again by Hollywood after 60+ years.

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Goofs

At Delysia's party, when Michael is playing the piano he leans into the higher notes toward screen right, from Michael's perspective, to the left. The higher keys on a piano are to the right, the lower to the left, so Michael's reaching to the left would result in lower notes.

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Quotes

Delysia: Phil's a theatre producer! Well, his father is. Phil's got his first show on at the Ambassador, and I've got the lead. Well, I'm pretty sure I have *now*
[holds up lingerie and giggles]

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Connections

References Every Day's a Holiday (1937)

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Soundtracks

"Dream"
Written by Johnny Mercer
Performed by The Pied Pipers (as Pied Pipers)
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Simply irresistible

When I first saw the trailer for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, I was a little off put, it looked like a movie that I was either going like a lot or really dislike and feel like it was a waste of time. So I saw Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day this morning and I really liked it a lot. Miss Pettigrew is a feel good light hearted romantic comedy, one that we need more of these days. It had bright colors, a fun story, and enchanting actors. Frances McDormand was so brilliant and a lot of fun to watch, she's got such a presence on the silver screen and has still got that magical touch. Amy Adams was just adorable, I really am starting to love her more and more in each movie I see her in, she's just so cute in her role as Delysia. The weird thing is, is that her character could have been such a tramp, but she made it into someone so cute and likable that her and Miss Pettigrew into a great on screen friendship.

Miss Pettigrew is a woman in the 1930's who has gone through so much, she's getting fired from one job to the next. But when she sneaks into being a "social secretary" for Delysia Lafosse, a sexy young vixen who is dating three guys at the same time. But she just wants to have the lead role in the local play and become a huge actress, but it's hard balancing these boys, but with Miss Pettigrew, she realizes that she might just be in love with a great man. Miss Pettigrew in the mean time catches the eye of a handsome rich man, Joe, who may just change her life.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a charming film and is one of the better films of 2008. I know that it's a bit predictable and it's a chick flick, but it's just a fun movie that I'm sure you'll like. It doesn't try too hard and the actors looked like they had such a great time making this movie. I would recommend Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, it's worth the watch. It's a nice romantic comedy that's original, clean, and fun. It brought me back to the classic movies of the 1950's where they were just fun entertainment, the colors and the feel of movie was just enchanting.

8/10