An aristocratic British couple (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr) allow tourists to visit their castle because of financial difficulties. On one of these tourist trips, an American millionaire (Robert Mitchum) puts the moves on Kerr and she wastes no time falling for him. Grant doesn't discourage her affair, instead trying to come up with a way to win her back. How pathetic.
A dry, dull, stagy film with unlikable characters played by likable actors. Five or ten years later it might have been more risqué but this is all very sedate and mannered. There's no fun to be had here unless you're someone who likes these sorts of tired old movies where screwing around on each other is seen as a harmless and natural part of marriage. Dated plot aside, the characters are a mess. Mitchum's character is an obnoxious bundle of clichés. Jean Simmons is not part of a love triangle or quadrangle, as some plot synposes online tend to say (as well as the misleading DVD cover). She's just an ex of Grant's who is only in the film to be a pot stirrer. Kerr tries harder than anybody else to make this thing work, which just makes her character all the more insufferable.
Cary Grant is badly miscast and dresses like Mister Rogers in this. I wasn't surprised to find out Cary didn't want to do this movie. He turned it down initially and then Rex Harrison was cast. But when Harrison had to withdraw at the last minute, Cary stepped in to help out. It's a part that is a better fit for Rex Harrison. Cary may have been born in England but he was never suited to playing these stereotypical "stuffy Brit" roles. Also, despite his age at the time, it's a hard sell to believe him the kind of man women would throw over for Robert Mitchum (no spring chicken himself by this point). I like Mitchum as much as the next person, but no...just no. To date, I believe this is the lowest rating I've ever given a Cary Grant movie. He's one of my favorite movie stars so it takes a lot for me to hate a movie he's in. But this is one that I don't see myself ever watching again.
A dry, dull, stagy film with unlikable characters played by likable actors. Five or ten years later it might have been more risqué but this is all very sedate and mannered. There's no fun to be had here unless you're someone who likes these sorts of tired old movies where screwing around on each other is seen as a harmless and natural part of marriage. Dated plot aside, the characters are a mess. Mitchum's character is an obnoxious bundle of clichés. Jean Simmons is not part of a love triangle or quadrangle, as some plot synposes online tend to say (as well as the misleading DVD cover). She's just an ex of Grant's who is only in the film to be a pot stirrer. Kerr tries harder than anybody else to make this thing work, which just makes her character all the more insufferable.
Cary Grant is badly miscast and dresses like Mister Rogers in this. I wasn't surprised to find out Cary didn't want to do this movie. He turned it down initially and then Rex Harrison was cast. But when Harrison had to withdraw at the last minute, Cary stepped in to help out. It's a part that is a better fit for Rex Harrison. Cary may have been born in England but he was never suited to playing these stereotypical "stuffy Brit" roles. Also, despite his age at the time, it's a hard sell to believe him the kind of man women would throw over for Robert Mitchum (no spring chicken himself by this point). I like Mitchum as much as the next person, but no...just no. To date, I believe this is the lowest rating I've ever given a Cary Grant movie. He's one of my favorite movie stars so it takes a lot for me to hate a movie he's in. But this is one that I don't see myself ever watching again.