Cluny Brown January 4, 2007
Posted by clydefro in : Classic Films, 1940s, Ernst Lubitsch , trackback
Cluny Brown, Ernst Lubitsch’s final completed film, is a charming enough story of two outsiders living on the country estate of a wealthy English family in the late 1930s. (That’s them in the opening titles.) The title character is a kooky young woman (Jennifer Jones, hanging on to her American accent) who’s been raised by her plumber uncle and picked up some trade skills (mostly just banging at the pipes) along the way. By chance, she meets Adam Belinski (Charles Boyer, French accent and all) after taking a service call meant for her uncle, who was otherwise occupied. Belinski, a Czech professor and writer, shows up to the same London apartment just before Cluny arrives, not realizing the friend he was intending to see had sublet his dwelling to a man who now has a clogged sink.
Their paths will cross again, after Cluny is hired as a maid at the same residence where Mr. Belinski had been taken in as a guest. This improbable reunion is highlighted by some advice Belinski had told Cluny back at their initial meeting, which she repeats aloud the first time she sees him again, just as she drops her first dinner service plate. Unconvincingly, both agree to maintain a platonic friendship despite Mr. Belinski’s obvious interest in Cluny. A large portion of the film separates the actions of each with little or no convergence between the characters. Cluny pursues another romance while Belinski endears himself to the English family who’ve graciously agreed to lodge him indefinitely as a result of a misunderstanding about his safety from the Nazis.
Lubitsch and his screenwriters gently skewer the English upper class, as well as class in general, frequently portraying them as out of touch and frivolous. Peter Lawford’s Andrew is so upset about Hitler’s impending war that he wrote a letter to the Times. He sees Belinski’s requests for money as opportunities to help show his respect for a brave and honorable man, as opposed to being taken advantage of by a layabout. His father is oblivious to world events, so much so that he’s ready to praise the Nazis when he thinks that’s the popular opinion. Meanwhile, their service staff openly disdains Cluny’s innocent blunders and is taken aback when Mr. Belinski treats them as equals.
Even more so than Heaven Can Wait, the Technicolor enriched Fox film he made just previous, Cluny Brown is a significant step down from the great Lubitsch comedies. It meanders between the two characters and often seems to suffer from a lack of focus on either. The result is sometimes disjointed and awkward, with the ending inevitable to anyone who’s ever watched a romantic comedy. Furthermore, the laughs are less prevalent than in other Lubitsch films (aside from Una O’Connor’s wheezing and hacking) and missing the thougtful undertones found in To Be or Not to Be and Heaven Can Wait, both of which often sacrificed humor for more serious themes. I also found the line between charming cad and opportunistic leach to be blurred a little too much by Mr. Bilenski. Similarly, Cluny’s ill-advised courtship with the town pharmacist stretches her naive innocence into the realm of ridiculousness.
The casting is also a notch below many of the director’s earlier pictures, as Jennifer Jones and Charles Boyer pale in comparison to other prominent Lubitsch couples (or triangles, for that matter). Boyer comes across a little too much like a poor Frenchman’s Cary Grant and Jones is a tad too ditzy. Minor criticisms aside, I found nothing especially wrong in either’s performance, but more memorable actors might have elevated the film into another level. I never felt like either lead truly owned his or her role and there are probably half a dozen actors easily imaginable in each. (Although Jennifer Jones drunkenly writhing on a couch is perfectly fine by me.)
All that’s not to say that Cluny Brown isn’t a good film. It is, but it lacks much of the ethereal, almost intangible qualities audiences came to expect from the director. Lubitsch’s career was so rich that his lesser films are judged against some of the greatest light comedies ever made. I’m certainly not aware of other movies Twentieth Century Fox was cranking out in 1946 that are as fun and witty as Cluny Brown. It’s likeable enough to put a smile on the viewer’s face and has a sophisticated flair largely unseen in modern romantic comedies. Mr. Belinski may wear the same suit for much of the picture, but it’s an undeniably snazzy one.
The 1946 film was never released on VHS and is currently unavailable on DVD in R1, but the British Board of Film Classification has recently certified it for release by the British Film Institute in the UK. There’s also a French offering with fine image quality already available. In the United States, Fox Movie Channel airs the film from time to time in a relatively good print. It’s a deserving title (as are all Lubitsch films) and hopefully Fox, or Criterion if there’s enough interest, will put something out in R1 soon.
(Edit: I reviewed the BFI release in May of 2008 for DVD Times, and was much more impressed with the film after additional viewings.)
Comments»
I loved Cluny Brown, albeit I was only 7 yrs old in 1946. However, I did see it again as an adult and enjoyed it thoroughly. I especially enjoyed Richard Haydn as Mr. Wilson and Una O’Connor as his mother! I thought they were so funny! I’m sorry to hear it isn’t available on DVD as I’d like to own it. I’d really like to know if it becomes available on DVD in the US so I could purchase it.
Thanks for your review.