Ronald Coleman's company, which produced this film for RKO, chose playwright John Van Druten to adapt a 1935 French farce by Henri Verneuill to film. Although on the surface, Colman would appear to be perfectly cast--suave, urbane, witty, charming-- something essential is missing. There is no sex in this sex comedy. Unlike the French, these sophisticated Americans don't seem to go the bed with one another, or even think about it. Instead, they take naps and drink a lot. Lubitsch, had he directed, might have found a way to add the missing attraction and tension, but the film's director, Lewis Milestone, excellent craftsman as he was, avoids it all together. Given the censorship restrictions of the time, perhaps this was an impossible project to begin with, untranslatable. There are some worthwhile moments, however, in this 1941 pre-Pearl Harbor glossy studio-bound film. Reginald Denny, for one, is far less cloying than usual, and has some wonderful moments with Colman. The rest of the cast, particularly Anna Lee, is first-rate.
Review of My Life with Caroline
