A story of rivalry between two Alpha male drivers: no, not James Hunt and Nikki Lauder in the powerful drama "Rush" but Ambrose Claverhouse (Kenneth More) and Alan McKim (John Gregson) in "Genevieve". Those two films could hardly be more different.
Alan's car "Genevieve" dates from 1904, in the Edwardian era, and this sweet, charming film may have been intended to arouse nostalgia for those days. It now makes the early 1950s - just after World War 2 - look like a "golden afternoon" as well. What a delight the two men's language is, e.g. "Steady on, Old Boy", "Jolly good", "Silly ass". All good, clean, innocent fun.
The film recalls not only 1904 but also 1928, then of course quite recent, and 1896 - which is treated as history though still in living memory. Two characters, however, rather undermine the nostalgia: Alan's wife Wendy (Dinah Sheridan) scoffs at a car that's "fifty years old", and a policeman (Harold Siddons) snaps that Genevieve would have been "out of date forty years ago". By contrast, an old gentleman (Arthur Wontner) is enchanted on seeing that the car is just like one that he owned in 1904; Alan's response is surprising and makes him look more likeable.
For all its charm, the film does have some "grit". There's marital strife between Alan and Wendy, implicating Ambrose in the "eternal triangle", and in one scene Alan is thoroughly nasty to an accident victim (Reginald Beckwith). Though that scene is probably meant to be funny, it's still effective if taken seriously - indeed, I found it shocking.
Wendy looks at first like a stereotypical '50s housewife, whose place is in the home. Later on, though, she is remarkably assertive and even perhaps a bit of a proto-feminist. We see the two men, to some extent, through her critical eyes.
There's a wonderfully hilarious scene when she and Alan arrive at a hotel. Joyce Grenfell has a delightful cameo role as the proprietress, and the hotel facilities almost make Fawlty Towers look like the Savoy. The tone gets a little darker once the couple are in their room and Wendy bursts into hysterical laughter; this goes on so long that it's hard, I think, to avoid feeling uneasy.
The film vividly evokes postwar London, with very little traffic on the roads, and a pre-motorway English countryside. Its period atmosphere is all the richer for the theme tune on Larry Adler's harmonica - the best film theme tune I know of.
"Genevieve", in my view, is a masterpiece of film comedy. I think I could watch it again and again and still be moved by its great beauty and charm. As its director, Henry Cornelius even surpasses his success with the classic Ealing comedy "Passport to Pimlico" (1949). How sad that he died aged 44 in 1958.
The car shares the name of the patron saint of Paris, who diverted Attila's Huns away from the city. Whether this is relevant seems hard to tell.
Alan's car "Genevieve" dates from 1904, in the Edwardian era, and this sweet, charming film may have been intended to arouse nostalgia for those days. It now makes the early 1950s - just after World War 2 - look like a "golden afternoon" as well. What a delight the two men's language is, e.g. "Steady on, Old Boy", "Jolly good", "Silly ass". All good, clean, innocent fun.
The film recalls not only 1904 but also 1928, then of course quite recent, and 1896 - which is treated as history though still in living memory. Two characters, however, rather undermine the nostalgia: Alan's wife Wendy (Dinah Sheridan) scoffs at a car that's "fifty years old", and a policeman (Harold Siddons) snaps that Genevieve would have been "out of date forty years ago". By contrast, an old gentleman (Arthur Wontner) is enchanted on seeing that the car is just like one that he owned in 1904; Alan's response is surprising and makes him look more likeable.
For all its charm, the film does have some "grit". There's marital strife between Alan and Wendy, implicating Ambrose in the "eternal triangle", and in one scene Alan is thoroughly nasty to an accident victim (Reginald Beckwith). Though that scene is probably meant to be funny, it's still effective if taken seriously - indeed, I found it shocking.
Wendy looks at first like a stereotypical '50s housewife, whose place is in the home. Later on, though, she is remarkably assertive and even perhaps a bit of a proto-feminist. We see the two men, to some extent, through her critical eyes.
There's a wonderfully hilarious scene when she and Alan arrive at a hotel. Joyce Grenfell has a delightful cameo role as the proprietress, and the hotel facilities almost make Fawlty Towers look like the Savoy. The tone gets a little darker once the couple are in their room and Wendy bursts into hysterical laughter; this goes on so long that it's hard, I think, to avoid feeling uneasy.
The film vividly evokes postwar London, with very little traffic on the roads, and a pre-motorway English countryside. Its period atmosphere is all the richer for the theme tune on Larry Adler's harmonica - the best film theme tune I know of.
"Genevieve", in my view, is a masterpiece of film comedy. I think I could watch it again and again and still be moved by its great beauty and charm. As its director, Henry Cornelius even surpasses his success with the classic Ealing comedy "Passport to Pimlico" (1949). How sad that he died aged 44 in 1958.
The car shares the name of the patron saint of Paris, who diverted Attila's Huns away from the city. Whether this is relevant seems hard to tell.