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THE GRASS IS GREENER
The stylish direction of Stanley Donen working with a dream cast makes the 1960 comedy The Grass is Greener more than worth the time of the real film buff.
Victor and Hillary Rhyall (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr) are titled British aristocrats who live in a large English estate but are having some sort of financial difficulties that have forced them to allow tours of their palatial home. One of these tours produces an American millionaire named Charles Delacro (Robert Mitchum) who somehow gets separated from the tour and meet Hillary, with whom Charles instantly falls in love. Things get stickier with the arrival of Hattie Durant (Jean Simmons), an old friend of the Rhyalls who is more than willing to pick up the pieces with Victor when it seems like Hillary is falling for Charles.
This film is a loving homage to the drawing room comedy of Noel Coward (Coward even wrote a pair of songs featured in the film) where people run in and out of the wrong bedrooms at the most inappropriate times, the sanctity of marriage is briefly put in question but everything always seems to come out in the wash and that's where the primary pleasure in this comedy comes...Victor and Hillary are established as a solid couple at the beginning of the film, a pair who might take each other for granted, but are still deeply in love. We know from the start of this film that Victor and Hillary are going to be together when the credits roll but the journey to this foregone conclusion is such a pleasure.
The other thing that makes this movie work is a glorious cast, some working out of their comfort zone. Deborah Kerr, in particular, an actress with a penchant for melodrama, gets a chance to lighten up here and really seems to be enjoying herself and the fact that she is working with actors she was worked with before (she and Grant were in An Affair To Remember and she and Mitchum were in Heaven Knows Mr. Allison) is a big plus. This kind of sexy bedroom comedy was kind of new territory for Simmons as well but she completely invests in it, turning in an absolutely delicious performance.
The screenplay by Hugh Williams and Margaret Vyner is a little talky, but it is such intelligent and amusing talk that we don't really notice or care that we're getting a photographed stage play, but it is a richly entertaining one, thanks to Donen, a proven expert with star power and said power delivers in spades here. For lovers of classic cinema, this is a must-see.
The stylish direction of Stanley Donen working with a dream cast makes the 1960 comedy The Grass is Greener more than worth the time of the real film buff.
Victor and Hillary Rhyall (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr) are titled British aristocrats who live in a large English estate but are having some sort of financial difficulties that have forced them to allow tours of their palatial home. One of these tours produces an American millionaire named Charles Delacro (Robert Mitchum) who somehow gets separated from the tour and meet Hillary, with whom Charles instantly falls in love. Things get stickier with the arrival of Hattie Durant (Jean Simmons), an old friend of the Rhyalls who is more than willing to pick up the pieces with Victor when it seems like Hillary is falling for Charles.
This film is a loving homage to the drawing room comedy of Noel Coward (Coward even wrote a pair of songs featured in the film) where people run in and out of the wrong bedrooms at the most inappropriate times, the sanctity of marriage is briefly put in question but everything always seems to come out in the wash and that's where the primary pleasure in this comedy comes...Victor and Hillary are established as a solid couple at the beginning of the film, a pair who might take each other for granted, but are still deeply in love. We know from the start of this film that Victor and Hillary are going to be together when the credits roll but the journey to this foregone conclusion is such a pleasure.
The other thing that makes this movie work is a glorious cast, some working out of their comfort zone. Deborah Kerr, in particular, an actress with a penchant for melodrama, gets a chance to lighten up here and really seems to be enjoying herself and the fact that she is working with actors she was worked with before (she and Grant were in An Affair To Remember and she and Mitchum were in Heaven Knows Mr. Allison) is a big plus. This kind of sexy bedroom comedy was kind of new territory for Simmons as well but she completely invests in it, turning in an absolutely delicious performance.
The screenplay by Hugh Williams and Margaret Vyner is a little talky, but it is such intelligent and amusing talk that we don't really notice or care that we're getting a photographed stage play, but it is a richly entertaining one, thanks to Donen, a proven expert with star power and said power delivers in spades here. For lovers of classic cinema, this is a must-see.